


Crystal Clear Future

by Jevil_Joss



Series: Steven Universe RWBY Crossover [3]
Category: RWBY, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse, F/F, F/M, Oh boy oh boy who's ready for V3? XD, PTSD, RWBY V3 Spoilers, Referenced Abusive Relationships, Spoilers for Steven Universe Future, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 37,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26547118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jevil_Joss/pseuds/Jevil_Joss
Summary: Maybe things were finally becoming 'normal'. Maybe Ruby could finally start learning to cope with this.Maybe.
Relationships: Garnet - Relationship, Pyrrha Nikos/Jaune Arc(one-sided), Ruby Rose/Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long/Weiss Schnee
Series: Steven Universe RWBY Crossover [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671520
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First, I strongly urge you to read the first two books in the series before reading this. Second, I have a Discord server! If you want to live chat about my fics or just share memes, join up and send me a message!
> 
> https://discord.gg/vv2CwNx

Ruby woke with a start, gasping. Flashes of a night better left forgotten filled her mind. Broken bodies and minds. 

" _Kiiiiilll meeeee...."_

Blake grabbed Ruby's hand. Suddenly, Ruby's breathing steadied. Why she needed to breathe was beyond her, but in exceptionally panicky moments she often had trouble. "It's okay, it's okay," Blake said, wrapping her arms around Ruby. Ruby calmed herself, nodding. 

"I'm here. I'm here," Blake said, kissing Ruby on the cheek. "I always will be. I promise."

Ruby didn't go back to sleep. Blake did, but, after all, she was only human. Ruby didn't think of herself as 'higher' or 'superior', but she couldn't deny that being a Gem didn't come without a whole bunch of perks. She idly raised a hand to the red diamond embedded in her chest. Her skin was a light shade of red, and like Blake, she was in her pajamas. Or rather, she thought she was. Ruby's changing clothes consisted of flashing red once or twice and ta-dah! She was wearing different clothes. As of yet, she had not tried taking them off, and she was kind of worried about that prospect. 

Blake's head rested on Ruby's shoulder, and Ruby smiled. Blake had stopped wearing her bow to sleep. Ruby was glad--she liked the fuzzy kitty ears. She looked over across the room. Yang and Weiss both slept on different parts of their bunk. Originally, Yang and Blake had shared a bunk, but after Ruby had been turned into a Gem by the psychotic Carnelian, they had decided to change things up a bit. 

Ruby looked down at Blake's yellow eyes. "I still feel like you need to be sleeping more," the Faunus told her. 

Ruby chuckled. "Baby steps, Blake. Baby steps." Ruby didn't need sleep, and every time she did, she woke up with nightmares. But Blake was persistent about this fact. 

Blake wriggled a little, getting more comfortable. "The tournament starts this Tuesday," she said. "Have you talked to Professor Ozpin about that?"

"Yup. I'm allowed to fight as normal, but no Fusion," Ruby said. "Bonus points. The Crystal Gems said they were coming to watch, too."

"That's exciting," Blake said. "We haven't seen them in a while."

"Yeah. I wonder what Steven's been up to--I haven't heard from him any time recently, and when Garnet messaged me about their coming she just said he was 'busy'," Ruby said, frowning. "I hope he's okay."

"He's a lot like you," Blake testified. "Strong and optimistic, never able to stay down. He's fine."

"Aw," Ruby said, pulling Blake closer. "That's sweet."

"I know," Blake said, smiling. Especially in public, she was rarely happy like this. It made Ruby happy for the quiet moments they had in the mornings. 

"It's nine!" Yang cried, bursting upright. "Oh, fuck, we're late for school!"

"Language, Xiao Long!" Weiss cried, hopping out of bed. "Come on, move!"

Ruby sighed. "Well, I suppose we have to move on with our day now."

"There's always tomorrow," Blake said with a smile. 

"Yeah. There's always tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Emerald listened to the sound of someone singing, "Tik-tok" over and over again. Just those two words, repeated endlessly. Romana had called Emerald to talk to her. Roman hadn't said anything about this, and even now, didn't say anything. Emerald knocked politely on the door to Romana's office. 

"Come in if you have good reason to," Romana called out, resuming her repeated muttering almost immediately. Emerald shuddered, opening the door and closing it behind her. 

Miscellaneous bits of machinery lay scattered on the floor and the shelves. There were only two chairs in the room, seated at opposite sides of a workbench. Romana was using a screwdriver on an odd little contraption, holding her mechanical cigar in her teeth. Her white jacket was wrapped around her waist, and she wore a crop top, scarf, and bowler hat to perfectly match Roman's getup. 

Emerald tried to avoid staring at Romana's massive amount of scarring. Slash marks, tooth marks, a variety of what appeared to be Grimm scars covered her stomach. She was missing large patches of skin, around her stomach and right arm, as well as shoulder and chest. "Emerald! So glad you came," Romana grinned, not looking up from her work or removing the cigar from her mouth. "There were a few things I wanted to talk about, but take a seat, take a seat."

Emerald obliged. This woman...this woman was supposed to be on Cinder's level. Cinder had even mentioned the name a few times, and she clearly had no animosity towards the woman. But who was she? All Emerald happened to know was that she was Roman's sister, and she was in regular contact with the person known as Salem--a person Emerald barely knew was a woman, and nothing else. 

"Just a sec, darling, you caught me in the middle of this," Romana said, fiddling with the screwdriver. Emerald took the moment to examine the items on the shelves--scraps of metal and weapons of various types. Swords, guns, a flail, and the bent blade of a pale, white scythe. 

Emerald's attention was drawn back to Romana with a clicking sound. Romana nodded, setting the small device to the sound. "One sec more," she muttered, popping the cigar out of her mouth. A band in the middle spun around, lights turning off. Romana popped open the case, dumping out a small red cartridge. She opened a drawer in her workbench, pulling out a blue cartridge and loading it into the cigar. The lights immediately turned back on, a sky blue color, and Romana closed its case. She popped it into her mouth, then blew out a cloud of blue Dust smoke. Emerald immediately shivered at the temp drop. Dust based cigars were an invention that had been declared illegal a week after their invention. Apparently, dumping explosives directly into your lungs was a bad idea, and would quickly destroy your lungs. 

However, Romana seemed to have no problems. Putting the cigar back in her mouth, she grinned, pulling out a sheath of paper. Despite the cluttered appearance of her office, she seemed to be incredibly organized in everything she did. "So, this was Cinder's plan," she said, flipping through the papers. "Seems like something she would do. Right down to the end, where she wanted you to use your Semblance to cause Pyrrha Nikos to rip Ruby Rose to pieces in a bloody display of horror on live television. However, there seems to have been a kink or two in that plan. How did Cinder respond to the problems?"

"She tried to figure out how to kill Ruby, and to help her understand it, she turned Roman's girl Neo into a Gem," Emerald replied. 

"And did she ever decide, I dunno, that maybe, just maybe, instead of zeroing in on her original plan, she could get a substitute?" Romana asked, slapping the paper booklet closed and throwing it dramatically behind her. "Maybe, I don't know, getting Pyrrha to kill someone else? Or why couldn't Ruby kill Pyrrha? Or any other plans, really."

"N-no."

Romana slid the workbench aside, slapping a hand to her face. "Always too focused on what she was going to do instead of what she _could_ do. Ah, Cinder, what would Mother Dearest say to you now?"

Emerald didn't even know what to say to that. Before she could think of a reply, Romana pulled her closer, looking her in the eyes. "You're actually quite pretty," she mused. "I see why Cinder likes you. But moving on..." She pushed Emerald back into her chair, leaning back. "I have some ideas, some improvements. Ruby will now be a poor finale, but she can open this play like no other...with your help, of course."

Emerald really didn't like this woman. With a gulp, she nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Alright then! We've got you now!" Ladybug cried. The Fusion lifted her scythe into the air, spinning it around. Blake's blade came out of one end, and the blade straightened out on the other end, and ribbons streamed off both blades. She pointed the pole arm at Pyrrha, grinning. "I finally take you down in a one-on-one!"

"Not a one-on-one," Pyrrha pointed out, raising an eyebrow. 

"Actually, the Fusion is a separate entity, so from a technical standpoint, it is a one-V-one," Mercury pointed out, reclining back. He sat separate from team JNPR and RWBY, but didn't appear to bothered. The touchy subject of Cinder had yet to be brought up yet, and Ruby had no desire to. 

Ladybug spun her weapon around. Pyrrha entered her typical fighting stance as Jaune started counting down. "3...2...1...go." 

Ladybug and Pyrrha circled each other, both focused entirely on their opponent. No attention was paid to the people sitting on the sides of training ring, in the stands. Ladybug struck first, moving in fast, striking at Pyrrha. Three rapid strikes were blocked by the shield, and Ladybug bounced back, hopping lightly on her feet. Pyrrha flashed her an encouraging smile--which just made the fact that none of Ruby's Fusions ever managed to beat her that much worse. Ladybug rushed forward, striking several more times to the same effect. Pyrrha shoved back against Ladybug, slashing outwards. Ladybug stepped back, parrying. Confidently, she circled around Pyrrha, trying to get past the shield. Pyrrha spun with her, then spun one leg, sweeping Ladybug aside. Pyrrha leapt forward, slashing and stabbing. Ladybug stumbled just slightly, but it was enough. Her balance was thrown, and she fell back from Pyrrha, defending against the assault. Their blades locked, and Pyrrha shoved her force against Ladybug's pole arm. The Fusion grimaced, then grinned. She shoved back against Pyrrha, full strength, and threw Pyrrha back. Pyrrha slid, maintaining her balance, but found herself back on the defensive. Ladybug slammed against Pyrrha's shield, fully knocking Pyrrha off balance. A second slam from her weapon, and Pyrrha fell over. The blade shot towards her, and Pyrrha managed a clutch save with her Semblance, the blade hitting the ground next to her. Without slowing down, Pyrrha flipped into the air, kicked Ladybug straight in the face, and landed on her feet, on the opposite side of the blade, slamming her shield into Ladybug's stomach. Ladybug flung backwards, her weapon falling from her hands. Pyrrha struck her twice more, then slammed her away. Ladybug stumbled, hitting the edge of the sparring ring. 

"And that's the match!" Jaune cried. "Aura down to Red."

Ruby and Blake unfused almost immediately, Ruby falling to the ground, Blake leaning against the railing. Pyrrha put her weapons on her back, then retrieved Rose Thorn and Gambol Shroud for her friends. "Better luck next time," she said with an encouraging smile. 

"I don't think I _can_ take you down, at this point," Ruby muttered, taking Rose Thorn. "I mean, your Semblance--if you used it full out, I couldn't even touch you."

"Pyrrha's Semblance lets her fairly easily take on any opponent with metal weapons," Blake said. "Skill wise, I feel we're _almost_ there. But that Semblance gives her an edge we can't really cross."

"But you are physically stronger than me," Pyrrha said. "You caught me off guard there."

"That was a Fusion, of course we were stronger than you," Ruby muttered, hopping onto her feet. She took a bottle of water that Yang passed, and then poured it on her head. She handed it to Blake, who did likewise. 

"Why do you do that?" Pyrrha asked. "I can't believe I'm only now asking that."

"A bit of a joke between me and Yang," Ruby told her. "When we started sparring together."

"I was mostly asking about Blake," Pyrrha said. "I didn't think twice about you doing it."

"Fusion is...a little weird," Blake answered. "While we're Fused, it's not 'Ruby's habits' and 'Blake's habits'. It's all 'our habits'. Ladybug is both of us--so her habits are both of ours. And while I'm not really 'there' while Fused, I still retain all memories and feelings. So, mostly, it just became my habit, too."

Fusion also got a little extra weird when it came to human relations. Ruby had taken a picture of the Ladybug Fusion giving the peace sign while standing with Qrow, and she knew that Blake had set that picture to her phone's background. Cause in a weird way, when that picture was taken, the 'Blake' part of Ladybug had been thinking, "I am taking a picture with my uncle." So Blake had saved the picture of her and her "uncle". 

And of course, Ruby had learned that some Fusions didn't really work. With Mercury, both her and him had undergone traumatic events. The two had tried Fusing, but the two different forms of PTSD had clashed in a way that had immediately broken the Fusion apart. 

And recently, she had even tried Fusing with Yang. Just to see what it would be like. And that time, she realized, that certain personalities clashed with each other horribly. While not too unlike Petal and Ladybug in terms of capabilities, Pyre, as they called her, had been reckless, unthinking, and irrationally angry. They hadn't stayed Fused for long, and they hadn't tried it again since. 

The school shook lightly. Everyone looked up, hearing a distant hum and whine of a massive machine. "The Crystal Gems," Ruby guessed. "They're here."


	3. Chapter 3

**\--Meanwhile**

The massive yellow hand in the sky was awfully distracting. Carnelian found it rather hard to think when distracted, as, so she assumed, most people did, too. She tried her best to ignore it, and even closed the shutters of her lab. But she could still feel it hum. With a sigh, she resigned herself to her fate. 

Well, she had plenty of time, anyway. It wasn't as if she planned on doing anything. She pulled out her computer, finding out what new inventions had been created since she'd been here, a thousand years ago. Lots, apparently. The computer was a mark of that--she could simply look up what she'd missed. 

Perhaps this was a good idea. Play catch up. She'd been thinking too much about other things--namely, her sins--lately anyway. Taking things too seriously. What would she say to Tourmaline? The half-Gem would definitely catch up to her sooner or later, and when she did, she'd have questions about her past. 

_Damn, that's going to take a while to explain._ Carnelian would have to prepare the speech early. There wasn't any easy way to explain it, anyway. 

She stopped, reading one of the most recent news articles. From only ten years ago. 

"Local Huntress missing in action, presumed dead. Summer Rose," she mused. "Ruby's mother, perhaps?" 

The room didn't answer her. 

"I have got to get some friends," Carnelian muttered, beginning to read the article. It seemed that a whole lot of 'nothing' had happened over the course of a thousand years. Which meant that someone wanted nothing to happen. Which was weird. 

She had some work to do, it seemed. Finding out what had happened that no one wanted to talk about. She just had to hope her sources had stayed together while she'd been gone.

The hand outstretched, and the Crystal Gems moved onto the top of Beacon. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl stepped out, looking at the surrounding area. 

"Long time no see," Ruby said, bouncing onto the landing platform. 

"How have you been holding up?" Pearl asked. 

"Getting better," Ruby said with a shrug. "Hey, where's Steven? Is he with you?"

"Uh..." The three Gems shared a look. "He's back on Earth," Amethyst answered. 

"Oh. How's the gardening thing coming along? He stopped telling us about anything going on, so..."

There was a long silence. "Is everything okay?" Ruby asked. 

"Yes, yes, everything's fine," Pearl answered. "Steven's been having a tough time of it, but like you, he's getting to be okay." She smiled sweetly, encouragingly. 

"Ah. Anyone else with you, or is it just you three?"

"Alright, Red!" cried a voice from the ship. A small, pinkish form bounced on long, elastic legs, landing in front of Ruby and pointing a judgmental finger in the silver-eyed Gem's face. Spinel pulled out a device, which stretched into a large, energy scythe. Ruby pulled out Rose Thorn. 

"Ah hah! Mine's bigger!" Spinel grinned. "Say, didn't you use a scythe?"

Ruby extended Rose Thorn into scythe mode. 

"Thinner than mine, but...longer..." Spinel deflated. 

"HA!" Ruby cried triumphantly, a smug grin splitting her face. "Mine's bigger."

"Did you really think that I wouldn't want to get a look at this planet?" Peridot cried, jumping out of the ship. Lapis flew out, landing beside her with a smile. "They're here for the tournament. I'm here for the ability to study this planet! Earth was fascinating enough, and I want to see how humans evolved on two different planets!"

"I still don't know how you talked me into coming," Jasper muttered, stepping out. "I don't need to watch some kids put on a fight."

"Ain't that the truth," Qrow said, stepping onto the roof, swigging his alcohol. "If I'm gonna watch a fight, it's gonna be one I start."

"Yeah!" Jasper agreed. "Why would I want to watch a fight that has nothing to do with me? It wouldn't mean anything to me."

"Should I be concerned that Jasper and Uncle Qrow are immediately hitting it off?" Ruby asked slowly. 

"I mean, she's gotten better," Lapis said. "I no longer feel the need to run away whenever I see her."

"So you two are hitting it off?" Ruby said, smiling. 

"Oh, stars, no!" Lapis said, cringing back. "We hate each other. Neither of us want anything to do with the other."

"Darn straight!" Jasper agreed, before going back to conversing with Qrow. 

"Darn?" Qrow said. "Do you know any actual swear words?"

"Oh, no," Yang muttered, rubbing her face. 

"I got all the swears I need to get by," Peridot said. "I can call everyone who annoys me a clod. That's enough for me."

"Most humans won't get that one," Qrow pointed out. "It would be helpful to know some that will actually bother people you're talking to."

"Hmm, perhaps. It might also aid my research...okay! Teach me!" Peridot exclaimed. She ran up to Qrow, who grinned, leading her and Jasper off while talking. 

"I'm...going to make sure they don't start any fights," Lapis said, trailing after them. She passed a familiar figure to Team RWBY on her way out. 

"You couldn't have sent me a message about you're coming here, could you?" Tourmaline asked. "I would appreciate head's up, loves."

"You didn't leave any way to contact you," Garnet said with a shrug. "Moreover, you aren't our keeper. We don't report to you."

"Yeah, but the people I report to kinda like to know about these things in advance," Tourmaline replied, hand on her hip. 

"How're your eyes?" Blake asked. 

"Workin' perfectly," Tourmaline said, thumping the side of her head. She squinted. "Well, besides color, but between you and me, love, color's overrated."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had the slightest fashion sense," Yang muttered, raising an eyebrow at Tourmaline's signature red-blue jacket. 

"Xiao Long," Weiss snapped. 

Ignoring them, Tourmaline turned back to the Crystal Gems. "I would like to point out that half of your group assisted, tried to commit, or actually succeeded at genocide, and I work for the Intergalactic Police--who frown very heavily upon warmongering, genocidal, xenophobes."

"It's Era 3," Garnet answered. "A time of peace."

"Nations don't just change like that overnight," Tourmaline growled, jabbing her red thumb in Garnet's face. "And in case you hadn't noticed, some Gems still continue to do their own things, like murder and genocide and terraforming. Me and my coworkers are quite worried about Gems like you carving warpaths across peaceful star systems."

"Then why are you here and not where the bad Gems are?" Garnet asked, without flinching. 

"Because I'm not the one in charge," Tourmaline snorted. "If I had it my way I'd..." She winced, a light shimmer flashing through her. 

"You okay?" Yang asked. 

"Yes, I'm--" She staggered a little, backing off from Garnet as her skin flickered. "I'm fine," she forced out. 

"The two Gems that make you up are in disagreement over this," Garnet pointed out, folding her arms over her chest. "You need to come to terms with yourself, or you will literally fall apart."

"Don't you lecture me," Tourmaline snapped, only to have her right side flash blue. Blake assisted her, propping her up. Ruby went and helped her from the other side. 

"Come on," Blake said. "Let's get you to your room."

"I don't need--" 

Ruby cut her off. "You most certainly do need a little help here, and I would very much like to try and repay all your kindness and help to me. You didn't need to do any of the things you did to help us, yet you did them anyway. I never actually thanked you for that."

"You're welcome," Tourmaline muttered, letting herself be carried by the two. 

"Maybe we can find Carnelian, and ask her about Tourmaline," Amethyst asked. 

"The futures where we do meet Carnelian are...hectic," Garnet said, straightening her glasses. "Few that I can see work out in a good way."

"You can see the future?" Yang asked. 

"Didn't you know this already?" Garnet asked, looking at her. "I thought it came up."

"Not really. Steven spent ten years not knowing you could do it," Amethyst pointed out. "For a power you abuse the hell out of, you don't talk about it much."

"Any tips for the tournament?" Yang asked, getting excited. 

"Yang!" Weiss exclaimed. "That's cheating!"

"Just...tell Ruby to be careful around Coco," Garnet said, straightening her glasses as she moved on, past them. Pearl waved goodbye, bidding farewell, and Amethyst simply gave a peace sign. 

"I'll pass the message," Yang grinned. Seeing Weiss's displeased face, she added, "What?"

Weiss sighed, shaking her head and walking off. 


	4. Chapter 4

Tourmaline had been given her own room by Ozpin while she was recovering. Upon telling him that she'd been stationed here for quite a bit longer, he said that she could just have it. 

She had immediately asked for red and blue paint. 

Tourmaline sat down on her bed, pulling off her scarf and touching her Gem. It was...hurting. Pain ached over her. She shuddered, breathing disrupted. 

"You need anything?" Blake asked. "What's even happening to you?"

"Remember when we talked that first day we met?" Tourmaline answered. "You were concerned about Ruby. You kept asking me about what Gem powers she'd have, or something along those lines. I told you then--I'm a Fusion. The Gem part of me, anyway. These two idiots are stuck like this. That day, you saw me have a little trouble because one of the Gems wanted to let you help save your friend, the other wanted to follow the rules and not take you four off planet. Well, I didn't dwell on it too much. But right now, one of them is very desperately wanting to do something about the Gems, and the other is saying that they're a changed race. As is normal with Fusions, if they argue and disagree too much, they split apart. Only in my case, that would result in, most likely, immediate death."

"Oh, Gods," Ruby whispered. "What do we do?"

"I'm going to try and get some sleep, while my Gems work out their differences," Tourmaline said.

"They exist at the moment?" Ruby asked. 

Tourmaline looked at her, alarmed. "Eh? What's that, love?"

"I mean, when Blake and I Fuse--we just stop. Neither of us are there, really, until we unfuse," Ruby said, scratching her head. It's just Ladybug."

"That's alarming," Tourmaline muttered, lying down slowly. "Ah, ah, ah." She grimaced. 

"The Crystal Gems aren't going to try anything," Ruby said. "They might have been... _wrong..._ in the past, but they're the good guys now. Era 3 and all, right?"

Tourmaline looked away. "But it's not that easy. Changing for the better." She pulled off her gauntlets--and Blake had been convinced that those were just her hands--and put them on her nightstand. "It takes a lot longer than they've had, and--and you have to work on it."

"How long do you think it's been?" Blake said. "From what I've heard, these three were the first to change, and that was a long time ago."

Tourmaline sighed. "I do forget they're ages, don't I. I'm only, what? A hundred and twenty? They're all thousands of years old and all...maybe it gets easier with age."

"I'm pretty sure it's always hard," Blake said, sitting down besides her. "I--I was never really that bad, all things considered. Mostly, I was just blind. Blind to the mistakes of a man whom I thought to be righteous. I don't think Adam would ever try to change, if given the option. But I know that when I finally _saw,_ I changed. I moved away from Adam, to a better life."

"And for the record, not everyone changes quickly," Ruby said. "Last I checked, Carnelian's still doing her guru-meditation-thing. Speculating on the nature of good and evil and stuff like that."

"Hmph," Tourmaline said, looking at her fingernails. "I was raised by an intergalactic drug cartel. Doing good things...hasn't been easy for me."

"You told me you were found by an important official," Blake said. 

"As always, there's enough there that's complicated and unnecessary so that I didn't feel like mentioning it," Tourmaline muttered. "He felt he was too busy, too hard working, to be able to care for me properly. So he left me in the care of a trusted underling--who should not have been trusted as much as he was. I...did a lot of bad things, loves."

"Tourmaline, I used to be a terrorist," Blake said. "Carnelian tried to wipe out all life in the universe."

"Not intentionally," Ruby pointed out. 

"My point being, no one is going to be mad at you for not being perfect."

"I know that one, love. Been told and told people that one for almost seventy years. And you know how many problems it's solved?"

"All of em?"

"None."

"It does make them easier, though, right?" Ruby asked, persistent. 

"Hmm," Tourmaline murmured. 

"We'll leave you now," Blake said, rising and heading for the door. "Call us if you need help, but we've got to get ready for the tournament. I'll get someone to stay ready to help you. Maybe I can get Winter to do it."

"You could get Weiss to get Winter to do it," Ruby suggested, following Blake outside the door. 

"Hey."

Weiss didn't answer, keeping her head buried in her book. 

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey."

"Leave me alone," Weiss answered. School was out during the tournament, which was a little late due to...events, but that was no reason not to study. Unfortunately, Yang did not appear intent upon leaving her alone. 

"Are you mad at me?" Yang asked. 

"No," Weiss snapped. 

"Well, I'm glad that's out of the way. I thought you might be mad at me, but your raised voice and tone have completely eradicated that fear. Thank you for expressing how very not angry with me you are."

Weiss gritted her teeth, trying to ignore Yang. 

"What's wrong? What did I do?" Yang asked, poking Weiss's shoulder. "Come on. Can you please tell me?"

"Why were you trying to get Garnet to tell you how the tournament ends?" Weiss demanded, spinning on Yang. Her blonde girlfriend paused, confused. "Is that it?" she asked. "I was curious. And, if we lost, I mean, some extra training sessions wouldn't hurt anything."

"Yang Xiao Long, you were trying to cheat!" Weiss snapped, jabbing ring finger in the other's face. "I can't believe you. Of all the low things you could have--"

"How was that cheating?" Yang interrupted. "I literally just asked her if she had any tips. She didn't even say anything specific, like, watch out for so-and-so's backhand or some shit like that. Also, unless you're counting precognition as a 'performance boosting drug', it's not against any rules. Hell, there are people with time-manipulating Semblances in some of these tournaments. And isn't the tournament about using every advantage you have over your opponent to the fullest? What's the difference between her and a gym instructor?"

"One of them is your innate talent and power, and the other isn't," Weiss stated. "I don't care about pressing advantages, but they have to be your advantages. You can't just get someone else to win for you."

"That's not even close," Yang said. "I'd still be fighting in the tournament, Ice Queen. It's not as if I wouldn't have to do it all anyway. Besides, aren't we in a team? Isn't that what we do?"

"That's not what a team is!" Weiss shouted. "If you don't understand that, then why are you even here?"

"Are you kidding me? I left for under five minutes," Ruby burst out, stepping into the room. "Garnet was right," she muttered. 

"Oh, of course she was," Weiss snapped, spinning away from Yang and folding her arms over her chest. 

"What are you two even arguing about?" Ruby asked. 

"I was curious and asked Garnet if she had any tips for the tournament," Yang said, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at Weiss's back. "And Ice Queen here says it's 'cheating'."

"Perhaps you should respect that," Blake pointed out. "I mean, if you did cheat, you'd bring her down with you. So why not humor her? Not do stuff like that? Besides, it's not long of a wait for the tournament to end."

"And Weiss? Not everyone is your subject, Ice Queen," Ruby said as she stepped closer. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss snapped. 

"It means that you can't expect everyone to know and agree with your every thought," Ruby pointed out. "Now, apologize to each other. Both of ya."

"Please," Yang scoffed. "She wouldn't apologize if she actually _agreed_ with me on her being in the wrong."

"Excuse me?" Weiss burst out, jumping up. 

"No," Yang growled, eyes flashing red as she glared Weiss down. 

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Ladybug cried, yanking the two away from each other. Neither of them had seen the two Fuse, and it had apparently taken almost no time at all. "Can you two not get along for five seconds unless you're literally forced to?" She rubbed her face. "Ruby and Blake care for each other. They love each other, and that love ties them together. It's what creates me." She clasped her hands together, over her heart and the small, red diamond in her chest. "So what are you two doing? What are you trying to accomplish?"

There was an awkward silence. Neither Weiss nor Yang could meet Ladybug's eyes. 

"You two love each other, right?" Ladybug asked. 

"Yeah," Yang said quietly. 

"Then start acting like it!" Ladybug said. "People argue. It's just nature. Ruby's had some big fights with you, Yang, over the years, hasn't she? She's argued with Weiss, Blake, Dad, Uncle Qrow. All sorts of arguments for all sorts of reasons. But just compromise! Reach a middle ground! Say sorry and move on to the next conversation."

"I--" Yang stepped back, rubbing one arm awkwardly. Ladybug sighed, closed her eyes, and unfused. The four of them stood together, no words said for a long moment. 

"Sorry," Weiss said, not meeting Yang's eyes.

Yang flinched. "Me, too," she whispered. "If...if it bothers you that much, I won't ask Garnet about the future again."

"That's not my problem," Weiss said. "I don't like you using Garnet's powers to gain a personal edge in the tournament."

"That's not what I was doing. I was just...curious," Yang said. She wrapped an arm around Weiss's shoulders. 

"Now that everyone's calm, not so bad, eh?" Ruby said with a grin. 

"You said Garnet was right," Weiss asked. "What did you mean?"

"We were going to go get something to eat, but we ran into Garnet on the way out. She said you guys were about to have an argument," Blake answered. "We could actually make use of her future vision. Imagine if we could find Torchwick with it."

"What would you do with future vision, Ruby?" Yang asked. 

"Nothing," Ruby answered shortly, striding to the window. "Once, the future seemed nebulous. Horrible, dark, grim. But now? It's crystal clear what's going to happen." She twirled, clenching a fist in front of her. "We're going to win the tournament, stop Torchwick, and become the best damn Huntresses to ever graduate Beacon Academy! And I'm going to marry Blake eventually, but that's more of a personal goal." She put a hand on Yang's shoulder. Yang remembered when she was taller than her sister--Ruby apparently thought herself taller than she was, and her body mimicked this thought. Or something like that. "I already know everything I need to know about the future, Yang. I don't need to see anything."

Yang nodded. "Fair enough."


	5. Chapter 5

" _Here. A gift. For you."_

_"It's warm."_

_"Kill me."_

_"Ruby!"_

_"Kill me."_

_"I just want to see her again."_

_"Kill me."_

_"Kill me."_

_"KILL ME."_

Blake stifled a gasp, bursting awake. The tournament...was tomorrow. Ruby was fine, in bed right besides her. Asleep. Everything was fine. 

Fingers ran through Blake's hair, and she opened one eye, looking up at her silver-eyed girlfriend. "Sorry, did I wake you?" Ruby asked quietly. 

"Not really," Blake said, stretching a little. "Just a bad dream and nothing more. What you up to? Tournament's tomorrow, we both need our rest."

"First, not me," Ruby said. "Second, I did sleep. A little."

Blake looked at Ruby's scroll. She was greatly confused for a moment, then realized it wasn't a scroll. Her tired brain took almost thirty embarrassing seconds to realize what the device was. "What are you doing with Tourmaline's Gem tracker? Does she know you have it?"

"Yeah. I just...haven't given it back yet. Since we used it to try and stop Roman."

Blake looked at the red dot in the center of the device. She traced a path along, a mere five minutes walk away from them, where an ominous orange dot sat in a building. Blake had been down that road many times, however, and hadn't ever seen a building in the spot where the dot was. 

"Let's not mess with Carnelian any more," she suggested. "That would be wisest."

"Wisest, yeah." Ruby hopped out of bed, transforming into her day clothes. 

"Wait up," Blake said, hopping out of bed and heading for the bathroom. A quick change later, she stepped up with Ruby. "I'm coming with."

Ruby smiled, taking Blake's hand. "Thanks." She lead the way out of the school, taking her time. "I...I'm more than a little concerned about this. But as long as I don't pick fights with the thousand year old demigoddess, we should be fine."

"Maybe," Blake said hesitantly. "I should get Gambol Shroud, just in case."

"No. That 'just-in-case' attitude is what made her attack us last time, and Pyrrha got hurt from that." Ruby shook her head. "Don't start none, won't be none, that's what Dad says. Uncle Qrow always replies that they might start it, but still. Carnelian didn't seem like she wanted to start anything."

"Perhaps," Blake said cautiously. "We still need to be careful?"

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked, frowning. 

"What do you mean? I'm still with--" Blake stopped. Ruby had stopped five feet back, in between two buildings. Or rather...Blake squinted, looking between them at the small, compact little bunker. 

"Freaky," Blake muttered. "How did I not see it?"

"She's bright orange," Ruby replied. "I'm sure she's found ways to make people not notice what she's doing in the thousand years she's been busy." Hesitating, she knocked on the door. 

There was a long silence. "Come in?" a voice answered. Carnelian clearly hadn't been expecting guests. Ruby opened the door, and Blake followed. It was a small room, with not much in it. A shelf with several books on it, and a desk beside it. Carnelian sat at the desk, focused on her computer screen. Other than that, the only fixture in the room was a metal circle laid up against the wall, with a small keypad beside it. 

"How did you even find this place?" Carnelian asked, looking up from the computer. "Do I need to change the cognitive disarray's batteries again?"

"Are you wearing--reading glasses?" Ruby asked, confused. "Do you need those?"

"They were a gift from someone I cared about," Carnelian answered, taking the glasses off and putting them beside the computer, which she shut. "I laughed at it. She apparently thought that I was in need of glasses." Carnelian sighed, idly wiping a smudge off them. "What are you doing here? I can't imagine what you're doing here."

"I wanted to say..." Ruby sighed, and Blake squeezed Ruby's hand. Ruby gulped. "I just wanted to say, I mean--granted, I would have appreciated asking but--you were...I do actually...look. I have actually been making use out of the powers you gave me, and despite the fact that you almost killed me, I thought I should thank you. So, thanks. You did mean well, and I have actually been using your gift. So..." 

Carnelian stood up. She moved around her desk, then wrapped her arms around Ruby in a hug. Ruby sputtered to silence. "Last thing I expected."

"Thank _you,_ " Carnelian said, wiping tears from her eyes. She stepped back, hands on Ruby's shoulders. "Seems like you're the only person I really managed to help. My last time on this planet, the people I tried helping...didn't turn out so well." She wiped her eyes, sniffing, sitting on her desk. "It means a lot to me. Thanks."

"I was here to thank you," Ruby muttered, scratching her head. "Anyway, what've you been up to?"

"So, some people will actually want to be turned to Gems, so I decided to go ahead and fix the machine," Carnelian said, holding up the small device. Ruby eyed it cautiously. Chuckling, Carnelian tossed it into the air. "It has no power at the moment, and not a Gem to transmit your Aura to. Besides, you're already a Gem, so it wouldn't have any effect on you." She looked at Blake. "Oh, wait." She put the device in a drawer on the desk, locking it. "Let's put that away. I've mostly just been looking up what's happened. I had a system set up so I would be able to have some people dedicated to writing down the history of the world for me, so I'd have an easier time finding out what's happened. I have _one_ source here, but mostly, it just developed into a cult." She grimaced. "And apparently, _she_ thought she could just come in and proclaim herself the leader. The bitch..."

There was an awkward moment as Ruby and Blake shared a look. "Sorry for rambling. If you hadn't noticed, it's my thing," Carnelian said, shrugging. 

"We noticed," Ruby said with a smile. She'd never forget what Carnelian had done. Both against her, and for her. 

"I just wish I had some way to thank you enough...." Carnelian mused, tapping her chin as she looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, wait." She flipped her computer open, grinning. "I do."

Ruby backed off a step as the metal structure on Carnelian's wall lit up with a light violet color. Carnelian laughed, then stopped abruptly, seeing Blake's and Ruby's expressions. "Oh. Um." She hopped off the desk, lowering her hands. "Sorry. What I mean is, my source told me about you. And your mother. I did some research, and while I couldn't figure out what happened to her, I did learn where she went." She stepped aside, holding her hands to beckon Ruby to the device. "Luckily, it was next to one of my old laboratories. So my transporter system is a simple hop, skip, and jump to the place. Once there, you can find out what happened to her. To Summer."

"Really?" Ruby asked, eyes widening. She let go of Blake's hand, stepping closer to the transporter. "I...I can learn what happened to her?"

"Most likely. Piecing together what happened shouldn't prove too difficult, but there may be some unexpected problems," Carnelian said, hand on her hip. "Well?"

The biggest mystery of Ruby's life had been her mother. Countless times, she'd asked her father what Summer had thought was just _that important._ What she had to do. Why she had to leave. He couldn't answer any of her questions. He didn't know. He'd want to know, wouldn't he?

Ruby stretched out her hand...and turned off the machine, glad that Carnelian labeled the switch in English. 

Carnelian blinked, face falling. "What? I--don't you want to--" She spluttered, unable to form coherent words. "I thought you--"

"What would going to the place she died accomplish?" Ruby asked. "Mom's gone. And I know...she'd want me to move on. She wouldn't want me holding back on her account. She wouldn't want me chasing after her. And if she wanted us to know where she went, she'd have told someone. Anyone. Instead, she didn't want us to know. I'm going to trust her on that one."

"I don't understand," Carnelian said quietly. 

"I didn't think you would," Ruby said, hugging the Diamond. "Thank you." She turned and walked out the door, pausing with Blake in the doorway. Both turned back, seeing Carnelian fall to her knees, staring at the transporter blankly. "I don't understand," she repeated. 

"You don't want to know what happened to your mother?" Blake asked as they started walking back. 

"I never said that," Ruby said. "I'd love to know what happened, why she left. But the thing is, she didn't want me to know. And she was my mom--I ought to put that much trust in her, at least. Besides, it's like the future."

"Now I don't understand," Blake told her. 

Ruby stepped in front of the Faunus, kissing her long and hard on the lips. "I already know everything I need to know," Ruby said. "She loved me. She wouldn't have left unless she had to. And she would have told Dad if he needed to know. It's not a matter of he decided I was too young to know or something like that--he's as much in the dark as I am. I trust Mom. She's dead now, but I still trust her."

"Okay," Blake said, wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Now I need to go to bed, or else I'll be falling asleep in the middle of the tournament."

"That would be bad," Ruby agreed, leading the way home. 

Home. She'd heard it said that home was where the heart was. Her heart was stone now...and just like a mountain, it was never moving away from her friends and family.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby punched a fist into the air, jumping a foot off the ground. "Hell yeah. We did it!"

"I can't be the only one who's starving," Yang said. "And let's be real. Did any of us actually expect to lose in the first round? Put your hand down, Blake."

"I didn't raise it," Blake said, flicking the blonde's head. 

"Gee, Yang, if only there were somewhere nearby where we could get food," Weiss said, gesturing to the numerous food carts everywhere nearby. "Oh, wait."

"It's okay, Weiss! I sometimes forget things like that, too!" Ruby grinned, patting her partner's back. 

"JNPR won their match, too," Blake said. "Pyrrha might have been able to take on all of them at once, but the rest of them being there certainly cemented victory."

"Pity neither of you were there for CMEN's fight," Yang said. 

"I'm still confused about that," Ruby said. "One more time? Please?"

Weiss sighed. "Headmaster's try to keep their teams in groups of four. So when a student dies, or is arrested for terrorism, they send replacements. Generally, other students who lost teammates."

"I don't know either of their names, but they were clearly skilled," Weiss said. "The girl--new team leader, I assume--was a strategic mastermind. She made every move like she knew exactly how the fight was going to end, too."

"Well, not to say it wasn't entertaining," a new voice--amused, lighthearted--spoke up. "Like a good book read for the tenth time, fights can be good even if the winner is obvious from the start. And as for you, m'dear Rose, you dropped this." She handed Ruby's wallet to the silver-eyed Gem, who frantically felt at her pockets. "Oh! Stupid girl pockets," Ruby muttered, taking the wallet back. "Girl pockets are the worse."

She grinned. She wore black jeans with strips of cloth tied around her knees. Her dark blue jacket was jagged and torn at the edges, most likely on purpose, and had more strips of cloth tied around her right arm. She wore a white glove on her right hand, and her pale scarf hung over to her right. She wore no shirt under her jacket, just a bra, allowing Ruby a look at the scaring around her stomach. She put her hands in her jacket's pockets, grinning wide around the mechanical cigar in her mouth. "Apricota Rainart. Pleased to meet you. I've heard lot's of good things about you, team RWBY. Mercury is quite the fanboy."

"Am not," Mercury muttered, glaring at Apricota.

Ruby eyed the orange hair and green eyes curiously. Apricota seemed familiar. The way she moved, the way she spoke. And her face...

Was she, perhaps, related to Torchwick?

"Where's Em?" Yang asked. "And, um, other dude?"

"Hanging back a bit," Apricota said. "He's shy, and I think--call me judgy here--but I don't think Emerald likes you guys too much, and is trying to avoid you."

"Ouch. But, fair." Yang sighed. "I mean, I thought she had a thing for Cinder, and we--we kinda put Cinder behind bars, didn't we?"

"The trial is still underway, last I checked," Weiss answered. "It is taking unusually long, and I just want to know if we locked up a dangerous criminal or a student in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It was her that attacked me that night when I first fought Roman," Ruby testified. "If she gets out of this one, I'll be surprised."

"Right. Personally, I just hope she gets what she deserves--whatever that may be," Mercury said, nodding. 

Blake nodded vigorously in agreement. "Where was your other teammate?"

"Hmm, somewhere round here," Apricota said, tapping her lips. "I'll have to introduce you some other time, perhaps."

"We were going to do some more training this evening," Ruby said. "Invite them over. I kind of want to apologize to Emerald, too..."

"Splendid!" Apricota clapped her hands together, and Ruby had the sudden feeling that Apricota had gotten exactly what she'd been asking for. 

The feeling that she had been played like a drum was a bitter one. "I'll make sure both of them are there! And Merc, too!"

"We'll see you there," Blake said, smiling lightly. Apricota leaned over, looking Blake up and down. She grinned widely. "Nice catch, Rose," she said, stepping back. "Careful, though--some cats bite." With a mad laugh, she strode off.

Mercury shrugged. "I didn't even tell her," he said. He had, early on, when watching Ladybug spar Pyrrha, admitted that he had always known Blake was a Faunus. Anyone who know how to look--or perhaps, what to look for--could tell easily enough, it seemed. 

Mercury strode off after his leader, letting RWBY organize their thoughts. "And what are your thoughts, Romana?"

'Apricota' grinned, blowing out a puff of violet smoke. "Oh, they are delightful," she said. "Absolutely delightful."


	7. Chapter 7

Emerald had not exactly been comfortable in her first visit to Romana's office. Yet Romana had wanted to come talk to her again, and apparently, this time it couldn't be talked about in their room at Beacon. She didn't bother knocking--something she regretted almost immediately. 

Romana still wore her blue coat, with the cloth strips around her knees and right arm. The woman on the table was shirtless, and had three separate knives in her stomach and chest, was bleeding profusely while crying and sobbing. Romana leaned over her, holding a fourth knife before stopping abruptly. She half-turned her head, giving Emerald a look with one eye. 

"Sorry, I must have lost track of time," Romana said. "This came as a surprise to me, too, for the record." She set the knife down, straightening her sleeves--Emerald hoped that this was a different jacket, because it was currently covered in bloodstains. She felt sure that this was a different jacket, mostly because Romana wasn't currently using her Semblance, because she wasn't posing as a girl twenty years younger and a head shorter. 

"Who is she?" Emerald couldn't help asking. 

"An old 'friend' who forgot herself," Romana said with a shrug. "I have a few of them responsible for my scars. She gave away my whereabouts to Norse--Roman's and my older brother. And Norse was an unpleasant individual whilst he was alive."

"Please," the woman begged. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Romana snatched up the knife, plunging it into her 'friend's' thigh. "Shut it," she said. "Em, you remember what I told you earlier? About the practice with Ruby?"

"Yeah." It was hard to forget--harder was keeping her focus on Romana and not the bleeding, sobbing woman pinned to the table with four knives. 

"You have a special place in my plan," Romana said, stepping forward and grabbing both Emerald's hands in her own. "See, Ozpin has made a crucial mistake in how he handled Cinder. If he had just let things go through with fair trial and all, it would have been fine. But people are already talking about how suspicious it is. I decided to help them along. I even faked a leak for an email she didn't write, her talking about how Ozpin and the other schools are getting corrupt. Now, that means you can push things even further into chaos better than anyone."

"How so?" Emerald asked, more than a little uncomfortable. Romana's proximity was freaking her out, especially as her hands were warm with sticky blood. 

"Because you _care_ for Cinder," Romana said, grinning like a maniac. "More than Mercury could, you can get upset. The media loves focusing on distressed people--and if you lose your cool, say, if Ozpin's overly violent students play rough during the remainder of the tournament? I'm sure I could even postpone the finish a day or so, to get people hyped up." She grinned. 

"I--" Emerald gulped. 

"Believe me, I can make the smallest things seem like the biggest. I don't even need much. And besides--" She leaned in, whispering in Emerald's ear. "I'm sure Cinder will be pleased to hear how much you care," she whispered. 

"I'll do my best," Emerald squeaked. Much to her surprise, Romana kissed her cheek. "Cinder really does have good taste," she grinned, stepping back. 

Emerald felt like she was about to vomit. This woman set off every one of her alarm bells. She was a creep, and she was exactly like every person Emerald had trained herself to avoid over the years--the manipulative, slimy shitbags that wanted to use you, uncaring for anything you had to say. This woman didn't care if Emerald wanted something or not. She simply only cared for what she wanted, and how she could amuse herself. 

Emerald slowly backed out of the room. As she left, she heard the woman on the table moan, "Please forgive me. I'm sorry."

"Not quite yet, Viola," Romana growled, pulling out a gun. She fired six rounds into Viola's head. 

Emerald covered her mouth, stifling a gasp before running out. 

Romana cracked her neck, then stretched out a hand. A blue outline of a clock appeared over Viola, and the hands went in reverse. The bullet wounds healed themselves, the bullets popping out, the knives slowly popping out as well as those wounds healed. Viola gasped, crying out and sitting up, sobbing uncontrollably. 

"It'll be another ten, twenty minutes before I'm forgiving you," Romana growled, picking up a knife. "And I'm certainly not letting you die just yet, my friend."


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, um, I'd kind of like to say...well...I am sorry about Cinder. I mean, even if she was a terrorist, I know you two were friends, and even if you don't like me, I'd like to apologize nonetheless. So, sorry."

Emerald didn't look at Ruby. Truth be told, they could easily break Cinder out at any time--as Romana said, though, "Wait for the cue." 

"If she is actually a terrorist, then she needs to be locked up," Emerald said. Not strictly a lie, technically speaking. "And while...I accept your apology." She still avoided looking at Ruby. 

"But you don't forgive me," Ruby said flatly. 

"Where's Pyrrha?" Emerald asked, changing the subject. 

Ruby looked up. "Her and the rest of JNPR are taking a break. Just RWBY, you guys, and the Crystal Gems--who haven't come yet."

"Fashionably late, like Apricota," Mercury muttered. "No, on time can't be fashionable, now, can it?"

"More of, we're just slow," Amethyst said, walking into the gym, followed by Pearl and Garnet. 

"Rather, she's slow and _we_ are fashionably late," Pearl explained. 

"Not by choice," Garnet said. "I want to watch Ladybug fight!"

Ruby laughed, jumping down, and rushing to them. "Glad you guys could come!"

"I must say, it'll be quite a bit different when the fate of the universe isn't at stake," Ruby said, "and, you know, losing doesn't mean the death of every organic life form in existence."

"Hey, wait a minute," Mercury said, pausing. "If Carnelian's plan was to change every race into the Gem things, how would her machine affect both humans, and Faunus, and whatever other races exist out there?"

"I'm going to assume she thought about that," Pearl said. "I mean, she does predate your civilization, and a rather large portion of ours. I'm sure making the machine adapt to the life form in question would be the easiest thing about that."

"Regardless, a friendly spar will be much more calm than that mess," Ruby said. "Where's Spinel?"

"She went off somewhere," Pearl said, looking over her shoulder. "I'm sure she's fine."

"Enough talking. Let's get started!" Garnet said, grinning broadly. 

"May I take this dance?" Ruby asked, spinning and stretching a hand out to Blake. Blake rolled her eyes, taking Ruby's hand. Ruby pulled her close, spinning her around as the two started to glow. Seconds later, Ladybug spun out her weapon, flipping it towards the air and letting it rest on her shoulders. 

"Don't they normally just twirl into each other?" Weiss asked Yang quietly. 

"I reckon she's trying to impress Garnet," Yang said. "At the very least, they didn't dive into a synchronized dance routine."

"Uh, who wants to go?" Ladybug said, looking around. "C'mon? Anyone?"

"I'll go," Pearl said. 

"Whoa! Really?" Amethyst asked. 

"I mean, I'm a little rusty, but hey! It's a friendly spar."

"Yeah!" Ladybug said, pointing her double-edged weapon at Pearl. "No fate of the world, no life-or-death. No consequences besides the winner getting bragging rights."

"Oh, please. I'm several thousand years old, beating you wouldn't get me bragging rights," Pearl said, pulling out her weapon and waving off Ladybug's statement. 

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"

"Hmm, that did come out wrong," Pearl said, tapping her chin. "Good luck!"

Immediately, Ladybug lunged, swiping at Pearl. Pearl failed to block and was knocked backwards, but managed to parry the next two strikes. She struck Ladybug's shin with her trident's handle, but the Fusion hardly noticed. Ladybug grappled, twisting Pearl aside, then knocked her over backwards, slashing downwards. The blade stuck in the ground by Pearl's head. 

"Uh, how 'rusty' are you?" Ladybug asked. "Did you mean 'completely out of practice?"

"Not _completely,_ " Pearl said. She flipped onto her back, slamming her feet into Ladybug's stomach, throwing the Fusion backwards. The lone Gem snatched up her fallen weapon, charging forward. She thrust for Ladybug's head, and used her momentum to jump over her when the attack missed. She landed in a crouch, then swept her leg and knocked Ladybug off her feet. The illusion dispersed into a cloud of reddish-black petals, and Ladybug landed unsteadily on her feet, out of reach of Pearl. 

"Our Semblances never did that before," she muttered. Pearl jumped to her feet, opening fire with her weapon. Ladybug deflected the shots, then split her weapon into two giant handguns, pointing both at Pearl. 

"Those look...dangerous," Pearl commented, stopping firing. 

Ladybug shrugged. "Sniper pistols. I've never actually used 'em much." She fired four times, alternating between the guns, each shot cracking and booming. Concrete blew off the walls behind Pearl, who ducked and dodged to the side. 

"Maybe put those away before Professor Ozpin sends the bill to Dad," Yang called out, pointing out the holes punched in the wall. "You know he would."

"That would be bothersome," Ladybug said, lowering the handguns, thinking of Blake's father. She converted them back to the double-sided glaive, rushing for Pearl, their blades locking. 

"You're actually really, really good," Pearl grunted. 

"Thanks," Ladybug said. "Any tips?"

"Just one," Pearl said. She twisted her blade, flipping Ladybug over. For a second, everyone's breath caught as Ladybug hung in the air, a shocked expression on her face. Then she hit the ground, the Fusion splitting into Ruby and Blake as Pearl sett the butt of her trident on the ground. "~Ba-lance is the key!" she sang on a high note.

"We'll remember," Ruby groaned. 

"Well, you put up a damn good fight," a voice said from the doorway. 

"Apricota!" Ruby said, hopping to her feet. She helped Blake to her feet, the Faunus fixing her bow over her ears quickly. "Nice meeting you..."

"Oh, this is my other teammate," Apricota said. "He's shy."

"What?" he hissed, glaring at her. He wore a black coat and red undershirt. He had a sword sheathed at his side, and a red flower insignia on his shoulder and on the back of his gloves. Two blue eyes narrowed at Apricota. His hair was a deep red, and Ruby caught the subtle shape of his two horns in the hair. "What have you been telling them about me?"

"See? I told you he was shy," Apricota said, shaking her head. "RWBY, uh, Crystal...Gem...ladies...meet Adam Taurus, my fellow student at Haven Academy."


	9. Chapter 9

Blake stopped out in one of Beacon's empty hallways, panting, sitting and leaning against a pillar. Normally, students would be here to witness her breakdown, but not now, as it was quite late already. 

_It couldn't have been him. Adam...he's older than that. He has the scar. That can't have been Adam Taurus._

_But...how...._

Despite what she told herself, she knew it was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, _him._

"Blake?" Ruby asked. She seated herself beside Blake, looking concerned. "Blake? You okay?"

"No," Blake said, not wanting to lie to Ruby. 

"I mean, I can't for the life of me figure out how it was _the_ Adam Taurus," Ruby said.

Blake jumped back, looking in alarm at Ruby. "How did you know who it was?" she demanded.

"We've Fused, what, like, ten, twenty times? We've both gotten a lot of each other's memories, from a lot of events that we might have potentially wanted to not talk about." Ruby hesitated. "I may have never met him, but I still _know_ Adam."

"Never met him? Ruby, that was _him!_ I don't know how, but it was him!" she burst out.

"Okay, okay," Ruby said, holding up her hands. "Blake, it's okay. However he's back, however he's managed to change his appearance, we can deal with it. Togeth--" She reached out, but Blake snatched her hand back. Ruby hesitated, slowly drawing her hand back. "I...I thought we were past this."

Blake couldn't figure out how to respond to that, and said nothing. Ruby bit her lip. "Blake...I am not Adam."

"I know."

"Well, then why are you treating me like a stranger? Why do you treat me like a monster?" Ruby snapped, pointing outwards. "We both know that there are a lot of monsters out there, worse than I could ever be. I am not Taurus, Blake. I am your love." She grabbed Blake's hand, pulling it to her heart. "I love you. You love me. Neither of us is a monster. No one can stop us from being with each other. So why should we stop ourselves?" She drew Blake into a hug, and Blake, hesitantly, hugged Ruby back. 

"Sorry for yelling," Ruby mumbled. 

Blake chuckled. "It's okay. Out of us four, you're the one with the fewest problems, you know that, right?"

"I think we all sort of tie," Ruby admitted. "Yang and I just show our problems the least. But when it comes to my problems, I talk to Pyrrha about once a week."

Blake didn't say anything to that. "Should we head back?"

"They won't miss us that much," Ruby said. "Well, Garnet might, but we're not Fusing any more tonight anyway. Let's retire, and tomorrow, before the tournament, we can tell our team about Adam. See what can be done."

"We might have to tell Ozpin," Blake said, raising the touchy subject. With luck, Ozpin would withhold the incriminating fact that Blake worked as a terrorist from the police. Most likely, he already knew, and if he hadn't told them already, he probably wouldn't. 

Probably. 

Qrow stared deep into his glass, for once lost more in his thoughts than his drink. Peridot was off chatting with the barkeeper, listening intently to him talking about what purpose bars served, and what differences each one had. She was writing everything down, occasionally pausing to interject with a question or other about something meaningless. Lapis was following her around, smiling. 

_At least they're having a good time._

"You have something on your mind," Jasper said, sitting in the stool next to Qrow. She had been mostly silent the whole evening, and even now did not speak with many words. Qrow had, before Peridot started her conversation with him, just bought a whole bottle of beer. Jasper poured herself a shot, then downed it before gagging. "What's the point of drinking this? It tastes horrible."

"That is the point," Qrow answered, swirling the ice cubes in his drink before downing it and refilling it in a smooth, continuous motion. 

"What's on your mind?" Jasper said. "Does it have something to do with your human air fleet?"

"So you noticed that?" Qrow asked sarcastically. 

Whether or not she got the sarcasm, he couldn't say. What she did say was, "I am wondering what it's for, though. On both our worlds, everyone says it's a time of peace."

"Officially, the air fleet is for Torchwick." Qrow downed another shot. "However, you may be observant enough to notice that Roman wasn't that big of a deal. He was, after all, stopped by four teenage girls before he did anything."

"So what is the fleet for?" Jasper asked. 

"Someone whom most of these people don't know exists," Qrow answered. "All of them are tense. Cautious about living out their lives. Perhaps limiting their spending, saving their money. All of them are wondering about Ironwood's fleet--no one believes it's just for Roman."

"Hmm." Jasper scratched her chin. "Your people can't travel off world. So, for you, that fleet must be large."

"Atlas has one of the greatest military presences of the-- _this_ _\--_ world, so, you tell me," Qrow snorted. 

"What exactly is that fleet for?" Jasper asked. 

Qrow stared deeply into his drink, then downed it. He never answered Jasper's question. 


	10. Chapter 10

"...the tournament has been postponed, due to the appearance of Roman Torchwick in an alley. The eyewitness claims he was standing around, checking his watch, evidently in a hurry. Roman did not appear to spot him. In light of Roman's reappearance, General Irownwood declared that the tournament could wait a day."

"I know that this is getting frustrating," Ironwood said, appearing on the TV screen. "But Roman is a danger. Public safety is a big concern, and entertainment can wait. The tournament will resume the day after tomorrow, but I feel it certain that Roman will definitely try to start something. After all, he has already--"

Yang turned off the TV, then finished strapping her gloves on. "Okay. Weiss and I will go meet my contact, and you two were going to sniff out and find suspicious locations."

"I feel like Roman moving into a new headquarters would make some noise," Blake said. "With ears to the ground, we'll probably notice."

"How concerned should we be about Adam?" Weiss asked. "In skill level, where does he sit?"

"Higher than Torchwick, definitely. Not nearly as high as Carnelian, though. He has a lot of raw power, and a lot of skill, and I don't think we should try fighting him yet."

Ruby nodded. "And if you see Emerald, Mercury, or Apricota--they might be with Roman, too. But there's no telling how tough they actually are. Especially because we don't know any of their Semblances--and something tells me that Apricota's is something else."

"While we're out, we ought to try seeing if we can get a hold of their student files," Blake said. "That might tell us something--if she has a record, or if she didn't exist before coming here, that might be worth seeing."

"And are we not getting Sun and Neptune involved this time?" Yang asked. 

"After last time, when they ditched us for noodles?" Ruby scoffed. "They don't treat Roman nearly as dangerous as he is. I could get them to help us, but they'd get hurt trying something stupid. Or worse, Roman would fucking kill them." She inhaled, forcing herself to calm down. When she caught everyone looking at her, she sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going."

Yang ground Bumblebee to a halt, hopping off. 

"This is a nightclub," Weiss pointed out. 

"I'm friends with the owner," Yang said, waving her off. "He's nice."

"If you're certain," Weiss said stiffly. She eyed the guards, one of whom ran inside. They kept their hands on their guns, but didn't point them at Yang. 

"They seem on edge," Weiss pointed out. 

"I mean, I did bust down the doors my first two time's in here," Yang proffered. She was surprised, though, because their uneasiness didn't end when she passed. 

Few nightclubs were open during the day--and this one wasn't one of the exceptions, despite the fact that alcohol was still available for purchase and consumption. And other, even less legal things for purchase. Junior sat behind his bar, but looked up when Yang came up. "Not today," he hissed. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang snorted. 

"It means that I don't have any info on Roman for ya today! You need to go now!" He waved her off, setting down the glass he was wiping out. 

Yang and Weiss shared a look. "Somehow, I don't buy that," Weiss said icily. 

"No! You don't understand! Roman is coming here right now!"

"Perfect. We'll kick his--"

"No! He's got his _sister_ with him! She--gods." Junior grasped at the bar, shaking. Sweating. Yang herself was made uneasy by this--Junior was not the type to be easily scared. "Romana is the most deranged, psychotic beast I've ever seen. And with _that_ Semblance, there's no way you can fight her!"

"What Semblance?" Yang asked. 

The click of heels interrupted them. Melanie Malachite stepped up, her skin paler than her dress. "They're here," she squeaked. 

"Oh, no," Junior moaned, looking at Yang and Weiss. "I don't suppose he would recognize you?"

"He would," Weiss replied, grabbing her rapier. 

"Come back here with me," he said, beckoning. "Melanie, tell her I'll be right with them." She nodded, standing and waiting for Romana to arrive. Junior lead them back into the kitchen, then opened a closet door. 

"That's not big enough to hide us," Yang pointed out. "Why can't we just--"

"This woman would kill you four times, long and slowly torturing you over the course of an entire day," Junior hissed. He tossed a suit at Yang. "If you keep your head down, you should be able to pass as two of my goons. Just put it on quickly, don't say anything. Gods...of all the rotten luck..."

He quickly left the room. Yang looked at Weiss with a raised eyebrow only to discover that Weiss was already putting the suit on over her dress. 

"We don't know anything about this opponent other than she scares the guy who rents out mercenaries for a living," Weiss said. "We don't fight this."

Yang sighed, putting on the suit. "Damn, does this seem tight to you?" she asked. 

Weiss gave her a flat look that Yang couldn't read, then flicked on a pair of red sunglasses, putting on a hat to complete the look. She hid her hair underneath the back of her suit. Yang slowly put her hair underneath the suit, flicking on the sunglasses, and topping herself with one of the hats. She shot finger guns at Weiss. "I rock this look."

"Head down," Weiss said, hearing footsteps. Yang complied as Melanie entered the backroom, carrying a blue jacket. _A familiar blue jacket..._

"And those two are for added security, but can they be trusted?" Apricota's voice asked. She herself, about a head taller than Yang was used to seeing her, and now shirtless, strode over and took the first seat she came across. The scarring was much more pronounced right now, dry, cracked muscle exposed to the air. The skin was missing off most of her stomach and right arm, and her shoulder. She pushed a button on her mechanical cigar, puffing out blue smoke. 

"They're def, Romana," Junior answered, entering the room with Militia and Roman. Roman took a seat besides his sister, looking exactly as Yang remembered him. 

"Ah, good. And do you happen to remember which wine you poured me last time, because I can't remember the name," Romana continued, cracking her neck side to side. Her eyes appeared closed. Militia clicked away, bringing back a thing of wine and pouring a tall glass for Romana. She was about to pour one for Roman when he lifted his hand, signalling no. 

_Wait is that Militia? Yeah, she's in the red dress. Melanie is in the white dress,_ Yang thought idly. Twins. Militia handed the glass to Romana, who took it and pulled the younger girl closer. "Hmm. Just as pretty as last time, Militia."

Junior twitched, clearly wishing to pull Militia away. Melanie, still holding Romana's coat, looked away. 

Romana stroked Militia's hair, keeping the girl close to her. "So, Junior. Is it just wine, or did you remember my order as well?" 

"I had one of my boy's load the crate for ya," Junior said with a nod. "Two whole crates of cigar ammo."

"They're called puffers," Romana said, pulling her cigar out of her mouth and pocketing it. Militia tried sliding away, but Romana wrapped her spare arm around her shoulders. "'My dear, my dear, stay close to me, for how I long for your touch and sight'," she quoted. What she was quoting, Yang had no idea, but she assumed it was from a play. 

"Wine and cigars are fine, certainly," Roman said, speaking for the first time. "However, I'm more interested in what weapons you can hand me. You see, your men last time--"

"The same men that didn't come back?" Junior growled. 

"The very same men that lost a five-on-one fight to a sixteen year old girl," Romana said slyly. "Not that young women can't be dangerous--you, Militia, look particularly dangerous for your age. How old are you and your twin, exactly?"

"Twenty-two," Militia croaked. 

"Yes, well, I kind of need men who can beat sixteen-year old girls in fights," Roman said. "Even if you just hand me a bus load of teenage girls."

"Maybe I could take these two off your hands," Romana offered, scratching Militia underneath her chin. Like a cat. "I'm certain I could pay them more--and treat them better than an old codger like you could, in any case."

Junior looked disgusted, but didn't answer her to her face. "I don't exactly think I can get a bus load of teenage girls, Roman. But as I told you that first night, best men, highest prices."

"Oh, Junior, money is no object," Romana laughed. Junior handed her a receipt. Romana frowned, taking it, then her eyes widened. 

"The elites were trained at Huntsmen academies," Roman said. "And while they certainly don't act like Huntsmen, they are no less skilled. And in case you didn't notice, the objectivity of currency did cause a few problems in my hiring of the elites."

"Well now, this is a bit expensive," Romana said. "I guess I can splurge. I'll pay."

Roman frowned. "All of it?"

His sister shrugged, handing the receipt back to Junior. "Brother, this is the only thing I'm working on at the moment. Why shouldn't I spend money on it?"

"Perhaps not all of your money," Roman said slowly. 

"How many of these 'elites' have you got?" Romana asked. 

"There are twelve not on jobs at the moment," Junior replied. 

"Twelve." She handed a card to Junior. "Call me if you run into trouble with my accountant. The code is 'witch hunt', for when he asks." She sipped her wine, and Junior nodded, taking the card and pocketing it. 

"Is that all?" he asked. 

Romana laughed, coughing out some her wine. Coughing, she laughed again. "'Is that all' he asks. Yes, I'd like the entirety of Beacon Academy loaded onto a truck and shipped off to my mansion in Mistral. No, Junior, I am a simple woman with simple needs. Cigars, wine, a damn fine woman on my arm, and twelve highly skilled professional mercenaries to help procure enough weapons for all the White Fang, and then some. A mere trifle, to be bought and sold from a street vendor, Junior. Yes, that is all."

Melanie poured her another glass of wine, handing her a towel. Romana nodded with a smile, wiping herself off and shoving it to the side of the table. "Go on with your other customers," she said, waving Junior off. "I'll finish up, then be on my way out the door." 

Junior didn't wait for her to say it again. Romana stroked Militia's cheeks. "How much does he pay you? Because from all I've seen, it's not nearly enough."

"He pays enough," Melanie said. Romana beckoned her closer, and when she had the two twins right in front of her, whispered a number in their ears. Both their eyes widened, and they shared an astonished look. 

"And that's only the tip of the iceberg," Romana asked. "All sorts of treasures go to those who know how to ask, m'dears."

"We...we'll think about it," Militia said, gulping. 

"That's all I want," Romana grinned, kissing Militia full on the lips. 

Yang wanted desperately to go over and punch Romana. Hard, in the jaw, knocking out as many teeth as she could manage. But she held herself. _Melanie and Militia are tough. Not as tough as I am, but they can damn sure stick up for themselves._

Romana stood up, taking her jacket from Melanie. She put it on, then stopped and flinched, grabbing her arm. A piece of hardened, dry skin fell off, shattering on the ground, exposing the pink, raw muscle on Romana's arm. She clutched her hand, stumbling backwards, gritting her teeth. "Oh, the f'cking...piece of...agh." She inhaled, breathing in and out. 

"Who gave you the scars?" Roman asked. It sounded like he'd asked it before, and not gotten answers. 

"Perhaps later," Romana said, waving him off. "In private, brother. But in the end, I survived that fight, no matter how much she scarred me. No matter how brutal she was for one of the good guys." She straightened her coat, wincing as it went over the damaged arm. "Did not expect that, I must say, however. I greatly wish you two hadn't seen that--my condition is poor. And just for the record--" She thumbed over to Weiss and Yang. "Are they actually def?"

"Both of them," Militia testified. 

"Your hat sucks," Romana told Weiss. Satisfied with Weiss's non-answer, she nodded. "Yes, it appears so." She left then, without even touching her second glass of wine. Roman tipped his hat to the Malachite sisters, then left himself. 


	11. Chapter 11

"Thanks anyway!" Ruby called out, waving goodbye to the friendly Faunus. 

"That's about the last of the people I can contact," Blake frowned. "If I remember correctly, Tuxon's shop was right around here."

"Another ex-White Fang guy?" Ruby asked. 

"Yes," Blake answered, nodding. "We weren't friends, but I knew him. Here we--" She stopped. "The lights are off."

Ruby opened the door, frowning. "Well, I don't think he's out unless he forgot to lock the door," she said, stepping inside, but pulling out her sword. "Mr. Tuxon? Oh, gods!"

Blake rushed in, covering her mouth. Ruby knelt in front of the counter, with the corpse. "It's beginning to rot," she said. 

"Gods, that's horrible," Blake said, covering her mouth. "What--what do we do?"

"Call Ozpin," Ruby said, rising. "He's been dead for over a month, if he's rotting. Least we can do is make sure he gets a proper burial."

"You're...are you okay?" Blake asked, looking at Ruby.

"Blake, there's a decomposing corpse on the ground. No, I am not okay." She looked back to the corpse. "But...after Carnelian, this isn't as bad as it would have been. Believe me, this Tuxon fellow could have been worse off."

Blake rushed outside, vomiting in the closest trash bin. Ruby pulled out her scroll. "Hi. Uh, Professor? You might want to come down here. Um...there is a body. I think his name's Tuxon--Blake, it's Tuxon right?"

"Right," Blake gagged. 

"He's been dead a while. It's kinda rotting." She covered her nose. "Yeah, rotting. Uh, can you come? Kay. Thanks." Hanging up, she stepped outside where Blake sat, shaking and pale, on a bench. 

"I've seen bodies before," Blake said slowly. "I...I've never seen one like that though."

"It's got nothing on Carnelian's lab," Ruby said, reclining back. 

"How? That--that's a rotting corpse! That was a person! How could it be worse?"

Ruby gave her a look. "Well, he's not still screaming, and decomposition is a natural process that occurs after death. Carnelian's experiments were just alive enough to scream in pain, and their bodies--" She shuddered. "Strings of muscle, bone, and--" She held up a hand. "--whatever Gems are made of, all wrapped up around the sum of their consciousness, unable to just die." 

"I'm sorry, I--"

"It's fine, Blake," Ruby said. "People die. It's a fact. But now we know something--Roman somehow found out about Tuxon's breakaway from the Fang, and he sent someone to kill him. The other people we talked to? We need to just send them a message."

"I've got their phone numbers," Blake said. "What do we tell Ozpin?"

"Now's as good a time as any," Ruby shrugged. "Everything."

Ozpin patiently waited for Blake to finish explaining. Qrow listened as well, and also said nothing. They sat in Ozpin's office, and when they'd finished, Ozpin took a long sip of his cocoa--enough so that Ruby felt he drained half of it in one sip. 

"Your honesty is appreciated, though I must admit, most of it I either knew, or had guessed. However, I am deeply perturbed by this Adam Taurus. If it is in fact him, and not just a look-alike, then a man is successfully posing as a twenty-year old student, having somehow gotten rid of massive facial scarring, and claiming to be from the school that I trust the headmaster of the least," Ozpin said. "I had no clue that Leo sent replacements--in fact, I told him not to, as we were in the middle of investigating the other two."

"According to him, he didn't. He says he has no idea where those two came from," Qrow said, nodding. "And for the record. Apricota Rainart? Died a long time ago, on a mission. That ginger chick? No clue who she is."

"Where are your teammates?" Ozpin asked. 

"Gathering info from a friend of Yang's," Ruby said, pulling out her scroll. "They should be done by now, so I should probably call."

"Yeah, everything's fine. We were just picking up some lunch on the way back," Yang said, reclining against the bar. "I mean, we got to listen in on Roman hiring elite, ex-Huntsmen mercenaries, so, exciting stuff."

"We'll group later, and discuss everything we learned," Weiss said, taking a bite of her soup. Delicately, gracefully. 

Yang grinned, but the grin faded as Ruby said something. "Oh my gods. That sounds horrible. Okay, that's--fair enough, but I didn't want to say it out loud. Okay. On our way."

She hung up. "What's going on?" Weiss asked. 

"Blake's contact was killed. Apparently, someone found out he was trying to leave the Fang, and he was killed." She shuddered. "Ruby said the body was a month old."

Weiss set her spoon down, pushing her bowl away. Yang pushed her bowl of noodles away, slapping some lien on the table to pay for the food. The elderly barkeeper slid half of it back to them, then took away the dishes as Yang and Weiss rose. 

"Let's head back," Yang said. They hadn't gotten far when a swirl of blue stepped ahead of them, a cane tapping on the ground.

Romana took a puff on her cigar, red smoke blowing into the air. "Hello, hello, girls. You look troubled. Anything I can help with?" She leaned forward--she was incredibly tall, a bit taller than Yang, hair and all. 

Weiss's hand shot to her rapier, and Yang flexed her knuckles. "We're good," the blonde said firmly. 

"Well, I simply couldn't live with myself if I let two defenseless kids wander around the city. There's all sorts of lowlifes who'd target young kids like you," Romana puffed, slipping her cigar into a jacket pocket. She centered her cane on the ground right in front of the two, in between them. She smiled slyly--not overly malicious, but that kind of smile that said someone was laughing at a joke you didn't got. Weiss found Yang's hand slipping into her own--the brawler's forehead was sweating, and she was tense. 

"We aren't defenseless," Yang told her. 

"Neither are the kind of people I'm worried about," Romana said, her face inches away from Yang's. 

"I'm afraid to say, your services aren't needed," Weiss said curtly, "though the thought is appreciated." 

Romana smiled sweetly at her, then looked past the two of them. "Well, if you insist," she said, straightening herself. She cracked her neck. "Good day." She strode away, her cane tap, tapping against the ground. 

Despite the minor spectacle they'd provided, no one had turned to look at them. Yang grimaced. "If that bitch thinks she can get away with threatening us in broad daylight--" 

A long, black car slid to a stop next to the two of them. "Well, she kind of did, Yang Xiao Long, and unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it," said a voice from the car. "I feel like she's got some more people seated to watch you on your way back, and somehow, I expect them to be less friendly than she herself was. Now, if you want, I can give you a ride back..."

Yang and Weiss shared a look. "You can fit your motorbike in here, too," the voice added. 

"That's hardly the reason I'm hesitant, Carnelian," Yang growled. 

The window rolled down slightly, just slightly enough for the two of them to see the Diamond's face. She gave them a flat look, her long fingers rapping against the edge of the steering wheel. "One of the murderers you've talked to today stopped, and the other is most likely trying to kill you right this moment. Now. Do you want me to help you or not?"

"Get Bumblebee," Weiss said. When Yang started to answer, Weiss dragged her away, towards where Bumblebee was parked. "Doesn't she deserve the benefit of the doubt?" Weiss hissed. "We wouldn't have stopped her if she hadn't wanted to stop. If Carnelian had wanted to continue with her plan, we couldn't have stopped her. She had too much setup time, was too prepared. So. Let's get her help."

"Fair enough," Yang grimaced. She lifted Bumblebee, brought it to Carnelian's car, and fit it into the back end. Then, she got into the backseat with Weiss. 

"Beacon?" Carnelian asked. 

"Yes, please," Weiss said with a nod. Carnelian started the car moving, keeping only one hand at the steering wheel. Weiss noted that the wheel didn't move, however, even when the car turned. 

"How's Ruby doing?" Carnelian asked. 

"Good," Yang said. 

"Hmm." Carnelian raised and tapped her fingers against her dashboard, one at a time, in rhythmic succession. "She doesn't seem...regretful? Has she brought up your mother?"

"No." Yang straightened in her seat. "Why are you asking?"

"Just...still confused about something she brought up last time we talked."

"When you broke Crescent Rose?"

"Uh, _she_ broke it, and no, just the other day. She stopped by in the middle of the night to chat, with her girlfriend." She seemed to think a moment. "Did she never tell you?"

"No."

"Perhaps because you didn't ask?" Carnelian raised an eyebrow. "Something tells me she's not hiding it just for the sake of it--I feel like she just didn't mention it to you. Some people just don't think to bring some of these things up to--"

"What about Summer?" Yang interrupted. 

"I tracked down where she was when she died," Carnelian answered as if she'd been talking about that all along. "I offered to take Ruby there so she could learn what happened. She...declined."

"Of course," Yang scoffed. 

Carnelian turned her head, looking Yang dead in the eyes before setting her sights back on the road. "'Of course' what? What is it I'm missing? Why does she not want to know? I spent quite a bit of time and research on that--" Her knuckles tightened around the steering wheel.

"Summer never told anyone where she was going. Not Ozpin, Uncle Qrow, or even Dad. I once asked Ruby that if she could find out what happened to Summer, would she. You know what she said to me?"

"No," Carnelian said quietly. 

"She said that she trusted her mother. That if Summer had wanted her to know, or if she needed to know, she would have told someone. _Anyone."_

"But..." Carnelian flexed her fingers, cracking the knuckles. "But of course. Mother knows best, after all."

"You understand now?" Yang asked, hesitantly. 

"I understand her point of view, even if I think she's wrong," Carnelian answered. "Tell her my offer still stands."

"Can you answer one of my questions now?" Weiss asked. "A friend of mine asked how you would make the machine adapt to all life forms in the universe, despite their different physiologies. How did you--"

"It's not about the body," Carnelian told her. "The body wasn't changed--it was destroyed and rebuilt. Physiology doesn't matter. The only thing that mattered was what you call Aura--the soul, the power behind their life. That was what mattered. And everything alive has the same type of soul, so that didn't matter too much. The problem was keeping it intact--and that was the initial problem Ruby had. Her soul started to--"

"Started to what?" Weiss asked when Carnelian didn't continue. 

"Hmm. Well, break apart," Carnelian answered. "I managed to put it back together well enough, but there might still be side effects."

"You broke her soul," Yang said flatly. 

"More of, chipped it," Carnelian chuckled. "The amount of damage it actually took was incredibly small because of how quickly I fixed her. Just...keep an eye on her. She might develop some mental problems--and not just from soul damage."

"Right," Yang said. 

The car pulled to a stop. "Here ya go. Beacon Academy."

"Why do you have a car?" Weiss asked. "Can't you travel at the speed of light?"

"Really curious about how I work, aren't you?" Carnelian scoffed. "Remember, I am shattered. Traveling that fast is bad for me--I don't do it unless it's urgent."

Yang and Weiss stepped out of the car. Yang pulled Bumblebee out of the back of it. "Uh, thanks for the assist."

Carnelian waved it off, then pulled the car out and drove off. 

High above them, 'Apricota' stepped away from the window. "I hadn't realized Carnelian was still on the planet," she mused.

"Does it change anything?" Emerald asked. 

"No. Head into town now, continue with the next phase. Carnelian isn't an obstacle--she's a curiosity. And our boss--might be happy to know she's back. Vengeance on two people at once, this way."


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to apologize for the delay. I spent way too long writing nothing at all...I'm sorry.

Pyrrha opened the door into Ozpin's office to find him in an unpleasant looking conversation with Ruby and Blake. Pyrrha stopped abruptly, standing in the doorway. "You wanted to see me, professor?" she asked. 

Ozpin looked up, meeting her eyes. "Yes, yes. I'd...quite forgotten about that. Ruby, Blake. Reconvene with your team. We can discuss this more later, but please. Try to keep it under wraps. It wouldn't be good to let everyone hear about this."

Ruby nodded. "Probably not, no. Catch you later, Pyr."

Pyrrha stepped aside as Ruby and Blake left, the Faunus looking visibly sick. 

"You...wanted to see me, professor?" Pyrrha repeated, unsure of what else to say. 

"There's a bit to begin with here. Let me start with, what's your favorite fairy tale?"

Ruby put an arm around Blake. "You okay?" 

"Ish," Blake said with a bitter smile. "That was not something I needed to see."

Ruby sighed. "Me neither," she muttered, almost to herself. She opened the door to their room, nodding to Yang and Weiss. "Okay. We'll go first."

After all events had been relayed by both parties, Ruby sat back. "Okay. Apricota? Not nice. And whatever she did to make Adam super small and young, she must have done so to herself."

"But she has scarring on her stomach when she does that on herself," Blake pointed out. "Whatever 'that' is, it completely removed Adam's scar."

"The scarring is super bad when she's...grown up? I don't know," Weiss shook her head, seeming disturbed. "She must have had all the scarring--or some of it--when she was young. Really young."

"She's Roman's sister," Ruby said. "If I had to guess, I'd say rough family life."

"We don't have any more data than when we started!" Yang snapped, slamming a fist into her nightstand. "Once again, Roman and co. are planning some nefarious scheme! They're hiring thugs, they're hiring the best soldiers they can afford! They're involved with the White Fang, and the lives of our friends and family are at risk, and we know not a damn thing! We're in the dark about everything important!"

A knock came at the door before Jaune Arc peeked in. "Sorry to intrude, but...have you four seen the news?"

To answer, Ruby turned on the television, flipping quickly to the news channel, very surprised to see Emerald talking to the reporter. 

"The fact of the matter is," Emerald was saying, "four untrained huntsmen grouped together and gang-piled a fellow student without any further evidence then seeing she was with someone they didn't like. What were they even doing out there? How did they have the info to track down her? And why would they just attack without asking any questions? What if it had been someone who simply looked like Roman? It's confirmed he has a sister! And why would they automatically assume that Cinder--someone they'd said was a friend--was working with him? Cinder could have been kidnapped, or any number of things! Really, I am--"

"Look," Weiss said, pointing. All of them looked and saw 'Apricota' standing in the background with Mercury. 

"Adam's gone," Blake growled. 

Ruby turned off the TV. "Jaune. Get your team. We need to talk."

The elevator went down. Since Ozpin had explained the Maidens, they had been joined by Qrow(who had technically already been in the room), Ironwood, and Glynda. They rode the elevator down, down farther than what Pyrrha would have sworn to being the deepest, darkest basement of Beacon. 

And then farther, until finally the elevator stopped. "I don't understand," Pyrrha said, coming out into a wide hallway, step in step with Ozpin. "Why hide all of this?"

"Because a lot of people would very much like to try and take the Maiden powers," Ozpin said. "And that is exactly what happened. The Fall Maiden, Amber, was attacked, and for the first time, some of her power was stolen."

Pyrrha gulped, with a sinking feeling telling her where this was going. 

"We weren't even aware it was possible to steal the power," Ironwood added. "Up until now, we only knew of the way the powers naturally transfer."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked. "How...how _do_ the powers select a new...host...after the previous one dies?"

"We eventually managed to figure out what was happening, as at first, it seemed there were no consistent rules," Glynda began. "We now believe the powers to transfer to the person the Maiden was last thinking about--but only if that person was a young woman."

"Why only young women?" Pyrrha asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I can only guess and make poor taste jokes about that," Qrow chuckled, taking a swig from his flask. 

"The current problem is," Ozpin said, stopping in front of a large, green box at the end of the hallway, "that the power's never been split like this before. We don't know what will happen, even if the current Maiden survives." 

Pyrrha stepped up beside him, peeking into the box through a window. It was a small, house-like room, with chairs, tables, and a bed with a youngish woman seated on it, leaning forward, hands clasped in front of her. 

"That is Amber," Ozpin said. "Thanks to the healing potion from Ruby's friend 'Steven'--"

"I still don't think that's his actual name," Glynda muttered. 

Glaring at her, Ozpin continued. "--she might, just might, make it alive, and even regained consciousness. The problem lies with Cinder--the one who attacked her."

"And just for the record, I was there, and not even that drunk," Qrow added. "So yeah. I know it was her, Emerald, and Mercury."

"What do you want me for?" Pyrrha asked. "I feel like...I already know, but please. Just get to the point."

"Until further notice, I was wanting to go on as we normally did when a Maiden was dying," Ozpin said. "Amber is currently secluded, so whoever we find to be the next Maiden would be the only one to interact with her, to ensure that she's the one in the Maiden's last thoughts. We were wanting you to be the next Fall Maiden."

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

"It gets a little trickier than that, though, so please. Don't agree to it yet." Ozpin looked distressed--a look which Pyrrha hadn't seen on him before. "Even now, we don't know what will happen with the power split like this. I feel like it will try to rejoin itself--yet the question remains, which vessel it will go into. Cinder or the new Maiden. Cinder is a psychopath and murderer--with luck, she will be dead before Amber, and the return of the rest of her power might save her. However, I have never been one to count on luck."

"We don't yet know the nature of the Maiden powers, but at Atlas, we have made...significant strides in the research of Aura," Ironwood said. "As much as I don't like to suggest this, while we may not be able to manipulate the powers themselves, we should be able to move her _Aura_ over to you."

"That's sick," Pyrrha said, stepping back. 

"We're currently saving it as a method of last resort," Ironwood said. "I don't like it either, but I like the idea of giving the powers to a psychotic criminal with unknown intentions even less."

"We're still a bit at odds with that one," Qrow growled. 

"I'm willing to sacrifice a lot to save a city, Qrow," Ironwood said slowly, shooting the Huntsman a look. "My humanity is the least of it."

"Why not Carnelian?" Pyrrha asked. There was a silence. "Why not get Carnelian to turn Amber into a Gem? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

"I did contact Carnelian," Ozpin replied. "I brought this up to her. Even if I fully one hundred percent trusted her, she herself said that the chance of that working in any beneficial way was low."

"Without knowing the exact nature of the powers, she has no way to make sure Amber would retain them while she turned," Glynda added. "And from what she said, her device does things to the soul. First, that's the exact same problem with James' proposed solution. Second, changing Amber's soul might just count as her dying, triggering the moving of the powers--most likely, to Cinder."

"We do not know what this would do to you--maybe Amber's soul would die, it might kill yours. Perhaps the two of you would both live in possession of the same body. Either way, we don't need an answer immediately, and you don't have to be willing to do that quite yet. As was said, last resort." Ozpin put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "But if you are willing, you could take up the powers of the Maidens by the normal method, hopefully."

Pyrrha sat down in the closest chair, trying to wrap her head around all of this. "This is...too much. What...what is the normal method?"

"If we know a Maiden is dying, we isolate them and only allow them contact with the person we want to be the next Maiden," Glynda explained. "To ensure who's in their last thoughts. This would involve you bringing her meals, and just talking to her a bunch. We could potentially even delay the tournament to give her more time to get to know you."

Pyrrha nodded. "I...I'll do it. If this will help save lives, I am ready."

Ozpin nodded back. "I knew you were," he said, helping her to her feet. "You can start tomorrow. If you have any more questions, text me."


	13. Chapter 13

When Ironwood got back to his ship, it was immediately back to work. 

"What's the problem?" Ironwood asked. 

"She wants to see the prisoner, sir," the guard answered. 

"And why do you want to see Cinder?" Ironwood asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I need to talk to her," Ruby answered. "Only a minute. Please."

"Give her five minutes," Ironwood told the guard. The guard nodded, leading Ruby to Cinder's cell. 

Ruby had been told that Cinder had not said anything for two days. With luck, she could make Cinder break that streak. 

Cinder sat in her cell, simply tapping her finger against the arm of her chair. The cell did not look comfortable.

"I don't have long, so I'll get to the point," Ruby said. "Are you with Roman? Or are you innocent?"

"..."

Ruby hissed through her teeth. "What do you want? Cuz I'm sure I could get Ironwood to make this cell more comfortable. Get you cable, maybe a book or two. Potentially, if you tell us a lot, even take some years off your sentence...if you actually go to jail for that long."

"..."

"Why are you doing this? You're only making things worse for everyone!" Ruby burst out, standing up. "Do you not care about all the people Roman is hurting, and going to hurt? All the people like you. What about Emerald?"

"..."

"Are you really just a monster, like Torchwick?" Ruby asked slowly. 

For the first time Ruby had seen her in a long while, Cinder smiled. She looked up, met Ruby's eyes, and smiled. 

Ruby felt disgusted. "No one can be bad all the way down," she said. "There's got to be someone you care for. Or...or something."

"Time's up," came Ironwood's voice. Ruby walked away from the cell. 

"Anything?" Ironwood asked her. 

"Nothing I didn't already know," Ruby muttered. "She deserves to be in that cell."

"We need to find Torchwick before the Tournament starts," Ruby said, bursting into her team's dorm. "We need to--" She stopped, seeing an awkward Sun, nervous Neptune, and furious Blake. 

"There she is," Blake said, grabbing Sun roughly by the shoulder and shoving him towards Ruby. "Go on. Tell her what you told me."

"Well, I just mean, that the thing is, I really rather think--" 

"Get to the point," Yang said firmly, crossing her hands over her chest. 

"Maybe you shouldn't go after Torchwick. You know, leave it to the professionals. The...the trained Huntsmen."

"Are you being serious?" Ruby asked, unsure whether or not he was joking. "Are you saying that Torchwick should just be left to go free?"

"He's saying that it didn't work out so well for you the first time," Apricota said from behind Ruby. She had her hands in her jacket pockets, puffing some blue smoke on her cigar in her mouth. "Pardon me, but I was passing by and happened to overhear. Probably because you left your door open." She stepped inside, taking the cigar out of her mouth and dumping some empty cartridges out into their trash bin. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss demanded, hand immediately going to her rapier. 

"Well, even if you only go by the fact that Cinder may or may not be jailed simply for being friends with the wrong person at the wrong time, it seems to me that the situation was handled poorly by all concerned parties," Apricota said, loading another Dust cartridge into her cigar. 

"Uh--is that a Dust based cigar?" Neptune asked. "Aren't those supposed to be incredibly dangerous?"

"Stay on topic, my friend," Apricota answered. "My opinion is that we are all _students,_ aren't we? So why try to be grownups when we are still kids? To be quite blunt, you ought to mind your own business."

"Bold words coming from the person who gave me a death threat in broad daylight," Yang growled, stepping towards her. 

"Dear, Miss Xiao Long," Romana chided, shaking her head. "You really ought to put some thought into these things. I was with Emerald, talking to news reporters almost all of the day yesterday. You clearly just found someone who looked like me."

"Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked. "Why the games? Why the violence?"

She cocked her head, frowning. "Why, you almost sound like--" She stopped, recognition flashing in her eyes. "Well, you've heard my say. I don't know why you keep insisting I'm someone I'm not, I've been quite honest with you. Farewell, and I hope you have a good day. We could all use one in these times." She turned and left. 

"I'm with her," Sun said. "She's, first, just a student. Second, mind your own business! Don't try to to take something on when you're not ready for it or you won't be ready for the consequences." Without another word, he and Neptune left. 

"Can you believe this?" Blake spluttered. "Why would they--"

"It's Romana's game," Weiss said, sitting down. "She has us divided from our fellow students. If I had to guess, she's probably been spreading rumors about us."

"We don't need them," Yang said, slamming her fists together. 

"We'll have to clear our names once we're done," Ruby said. "For now, we have work to do."

Adam looked up as Romana stormed into the building. Emerald jumped to her feet, and even Roman turned his attention off his work. "What's wrong?" he asked. 

Romana didn't answer and, against her better judgement, Emerald followed her into the office. Romana threw everything off her desk in one smooth motion, fumbling and grabbing at one of her shelves. She pulled up a broken, twisted, scythe--pale white, from the paint that hadn't chipped off. 

"Rose," Romana said. "How...how did I not make that damnable connection? She's...she's clearly _her_ daughter." Her fingers tightened around her desk, the wood cracking. "She even has silver eyes. Just like her bitch of a mother." One of her hands went to her stomach, gingerly touching the massive scar. "One of the only people who've beaten me, even through my Semblance," Romana whispered. "Though this could explain why Cinder was so focused on making sure she died."

"About that," Emerald interrupted. 

Romana snapped her attention the green-haired girl. "What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping around the desk and putting a hand on Emerald's shoulder. "I thought you had more work to do."

Shuddering at the touch, Emerald lifted her scroll. "I found something you'd want to see."

Romana took the scroll, still seeming bothered by...whatever Ruby's mother had to do with her scar. After a minute though, she stepped back, staring at the screen before a grin split her face. "Oh. Oh ho ho. Even Cinder would change her plans for _this_ one. This is too free."

She set the scroll on her desk, tapping a button and projecting the blue prints into the air above the desk. "And Penny is an acronym?" she chuckled. "Oh, I do love good days."


	14. Chapter 14

They had all been excited to start. Aside from the small amount of early luck they'd had the day before, they found nothing. Moreover, the longer the day progressed, the more aggressive people were towards their looking, and the more looks they got. At first, Ruby had thought it was her bright red skin, and decided to Fuse with Blake, after stepping out of sight. But no, they still got just as many looks. 

"It's Emerald's interview," Weiss finally said. "How...why did they all listen to it?"

"Because we haven't been paying attention to everything else going on with them," Yang growled, lowering her scroll. "Since then, Romana's been chitchatting publicly on that new platform--the...the bird one."

"What's she been saying?" Ladybug asked, half not wanting to know. 

"Talking about how clueless the 'so-called guardians of Remnant' are," Yang growled. "Things like, 'if team RWBY did actually get the criminal, then why wasn't she caught while inside Beacon itself'?"

"The worst part is it's fair," Weiss intoned bitterly. Yang grabbed her hand as Weiss continued. "She gets her credibility by pointing out the real stuff, then she's going to move on to the things that aren't. And people will still believe her."

"What do we do?" Ladybug asked. "I...I don't know. How do we--how do we progress? We can't fight them, despite the fact that they're out in the open. We can't convince people of who they are, cuz they won't believe us."

"We need more than we have," Yang said. "Tournament starts day after tomorrow. That means we have the rest of today, and tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, we get JNPR to help," Weiss added. "The eight of us sweeping the city are bound to find something."

"How can we get Ironwood to postpone the tournament longer?" Ladybug asked. "I mean, Roman is still on the loose. It can't be that hard."

"Maybe if Roman had done anything besides robberies," Weiss pointed out. "Even if he is still helping the White Fang, he's only stolen weapons. If he'd done anything..."

"We're not giving up," Yang said firmly. 

"And I never suggested that," Weiss stated. Hesitating, she asked, "Maybe we could get the Gems to help?"

"I don't feel like Carnelian could help too much," Ladybug said. "I don't know why, but I do. But Tourmaline's still K.O. I think maybe Garnet could help...at the very least, more eyes on the ground won't hurt."

"Miss Xiao Long?" asked a voice, unknown to Ladybug. Weiss and Yang knew the voice, and both turned to face Melanie and Militia. Both were wearing casual clothes, making it impossible for Yang to tell which one was which. Both wore jeans and jackets, though one had a scarf wrapped around her mouth. 

"Um..." Yang stiffened, unsure what was about to happen. 

"We've been looking for you," one of the twins said. "Quickly. Let's move somewhere less open."

"Who are--" Ladybug began, but as Yang started moving away, she cut herself off. Weiss quickly explained who the two were as they five--six if you wanted to get technical, and seven if you really wanted to get technical--of them moved into a deserted alley. 

"Against ours and Junior's better judgement, we took up Romana's offer," the twin without the scarf began. 

"Your dad didn't take that well, eh?" Yang grimaced. 

The twins shared a look. "Um, are you talking about Junior?" asked the scarf twin. "He's...not our father."

"Just a friend who cares," the other nodded. "That's...ew."

"Sorry, my bad. And, um, which one of you is which?"

"I am Melanie, she is Militia," the one without the scarf said. Militia nodded. 

"What happened?" Weiss asked, seeing them getting off topic. As much as she liked Yang, her girlfriend had trouble staying on the point. Or even getting there in the first place.

Melanie nodded to Militia, who, hesitantly, took off the scarf, revealing a large burn mark on her face. "She hit me," she whispered. "And...then Melanie stabbed her."

"Roman was actually on our side here," Melanie added. "He got really mad at her, brought up someone called Viola that I think Romana killed? I don't know, he wasn't clear and neither of us asked. We left immediately."

"We're on the first train out of Vale," Militia said, doing the scarf back. "We...we couldn't find the specifics of Romana's plan, but I heard her mention some minor details. She plans on using Emerald's--I'm sure you've seen the newscasts--"

"We have," Ladybug said, nodding. 

"--Emerald's Semblance to kill someone. She referred to Emerald as a 'stagehand' and herself a 'playwright'."

"The bitch is crazy," Melanie growled vehemently. All eyes turned to her, protectively grabbing her twin's hand. "She's crazy and psychotic, manipulative and heartless. She hit Militia because she was mad about something else entirely!"

"We don't have time for this," Militia said, grabbing her sister's shoulder. "She speaks of her plan like it's a big show. She called Roman the 'costume designer'."

"Then who are the actors?" Yang asked. 

"We don't know, she didn't say," Melanie answered. 

"Where's your sister?" Militia asked. She just then noticed the red gem in Ladybug's chest. "Is that..."

Ladybug unfused. "What's up?" Ruby asked. 

After a stunned silence, Militia continued. "R-right. Um, Romana referred to you by name. Several times. Not saying anything in specific, and...she doesn't like you. I mean--"

"She said you were 'her least favorite stranger'," Melanie added. "I...I don't entirely know what that means, but we did get some info on her Semblance."

"We might be wrong, but we think she can reverse the passage of time for something," Militia said. "She...toyed with a rat she found on her desk. Aging to the point of death, and then back to baby."

"Roman chided her for wasting her Aura on that," Melanie added, "so it's safe to say that it is rather expensive on Aura."

"That's how she got Adam looking like that," Blake gasped. "De-age him. He's young and scarless."

"But she herself still has her scars. How old was she when she got them, and who gave her them?"

"When she's older, she has a bunch of Grimm scars in addition," Yang added. "I didn't get the best look, but most of the scars appeared to have been caused by Dust based weapons."

"How do we fight her?" Weiss asked slowly. "How do we fight against that?"

"Maybe someone who doesn't age?" Ruby suggested. 

"Where would we find that?" Weiss spluttered. 

"We need to go now, but we wanted to pass on what we knew before we left," Militia said, rising. 

"Where are you going?" Yang asked. 

"Nowhere to go but home," Melanie said sadly, smiling bitterly. "Home to mother dearest in Mistral. If you ever find yourself in the area, look around and say hi."

"I'll try to remember," Yang said as the two left. 

"I can fight Romana," Ruby said. "Fusions don't age either, so, probably I can have one of you help me."

"We don't know how this works," Weiss pointed out. "One unknown mixing with another unknown. If you get close enough to fight, you'll have to do it alone, just so we don't lose the fight by default."

"Well, we got info," Ruby said. "Today wasn't a total waste, at least."

"We just need to get some sleep now," Yang said. "Even if we found Roman's base tonight, we wouldn't be able to do anything. We'd be too tired."

"Agreed."


	15. Chapter 15

Pyrrha looked up at the broken moon. Like on many of the nights she'd stared at it, she wondered what had broken it. Tonight, however, hers and Jaune's attention was drawn away from their sparring session by a lone figure walking in the street. 

"Is that Ruby?" Jaune asked slowly. "What's she doing out this late at night?"

Contrary to popular belief, Beacon did not have a curfew. As long as you didn't cause problems, Ozpin didn't particularly care. Cause problems, however, and any trouble you got in was multiplied a hundredfold. 

Pyrrha and Jaune left Beacon as fast as possible, but still lost sight of Ruby by the time they got to the street. 

"What is she doing out?" Jaune asked again. 

Pyrrha didn't have any answers. Instead, she began leading the way down. "Let's go ask, if you're curious," she said. 

"I mean, we're up training, so--"

"Come on," Pyrrha said, smiling. Jaune didn't like to bother people. He often felt like a burden. Pyrrha herself was very curious about why Ruby was snooping around in the dead night. 

They got down to the street as Ruby stepped out of a shop, saying, "Okay! Thanks anyway." She looked at Jaune and Pyrrha curiously. "What's up?" she asked. 

"We were just curious about what you were doing in the middle of the night," Pyrrha said. "We saw you from a window and thought to say hi."

Ruby looked like she didn't quite buy it, but simply answered, "Well, I'm still looking for leads on Torchwick. The rest of them need sleep, but I can keep going for a long time without slowing down."

"Any leads so far?" Jaune asked. 

"None," Ruby grimaced. "His every move is hidden. There's nothing betraying him."

"Maybe just nothing you have the resources to find," Pyrrha pointed out. "And I hate to admit it, but Emerald's slander happens to be doing what I assume is its intended purpose. You four may just need to wait and let General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin handle things. I'm sure they have everything under control."

"Roman would have escaped had we not been there," Ruby said. 

"But...didn't he escape anyway?" Jaune pointed out. "The only person you really caught was Cinder, whom a lot of people argue isn't even a criminal."

"And you?" Ruby asked, eyebrow raised, a look of cold fury on her face. 

"I'm not saying I argue that," Jaune said hurriedly. "Just...well, I haven't seen her do anything illegal and neither have you, so really, neither of us can say anything for sure. The only thing we have is the incredibly suspicious fact that she was with Roman when he was skipping town, and that she has remained silent the entire time she's been in jail. So...in the end, I hate to say it, but not much was accomplished."

Ruby stared at him flatly, then, without another word, walked past them towards Beacon. 

"She'll be alright," Pyrrha said hesitantly. "Come on. We do need sleep, and plenty of it."

Tourmaline looked up as someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she said. In stepped Ruby, who came over and sat by the half-Gem's bed. "I totally forgot you weren't feeling well, sorry," she apologized. 

"No need, all's good, love," Tourmaline chuckled, sitting up. "The Crystal Gems sent me a get well card, and I guess it worked because I'm feeling mostly fine now. Did you need anything or were you just coming to check on me?"

Ruby handed her an electronic pad. "I came to return this."

It took Tourmaline a minute to recognize it. "The tracker I used to find Carnelian," she said, blinking. "And that Neopolitan girl." After a minute, she said, "Y'know what? You just keep it, love."

"W-what?"

"Now that Carnelian's a non-threat--" She frowned, evidently still at odds with that fact, but continued. "--I don't really need it anymore, and as it looks like you have several Gems you need to keep track of, you need it more than I do. Besides, your friends can use it to find you if you get lost or kidnapped."

"Yeah, I-I guess so," Ruby said hesitantly, pocketing the pad. "Tourmaline, have you--been keeping up with what's been going on with us? And Cinder?"

"Yeah. Rough shit, that is."

"Do you think...do you think it would have turned out better if I hadn't gone after Torchwick? Like, maybe Ironwood and Ozpin would have actually gotten him instead of us only getting Cinder and all of this bad stuff happening because of it?"

"Hard to say," Tourmaline said. "Made harder by a quote from a book I once read--'no one is ever told what _would_ have happened'. I can't remember the name, but I think it holds true. What I can tell ya is that I don't think you traded even with your blows, love. Torchie definitely lost less than you did."

Ruby sighed, shoulders sagging. 

"Cheer up," Tourmaline said, patting Ruby on the shoulder. "You'll get him next time."

Ruby didn't answer, and simply left. Tourmaline stared after, then sighed. "If you try next time," she added, even though Ruby was gone. 


	16. Chapter 16

Blake woke up, stretching. As she looked around, she caught sight of Ruby sitting beside her. Ruby's back was to the room, and she sat still in full clothes. 

"Ruby?" Blake asked, concerned. 

"Just leave me be," Ruby muttered. 

Blake sat up. "Okay, what happened?"

"I chatted with Jaune and Pyrrha, then talked to Tourmaline," Ruby admitted, rolling up to stare at the ceiling. "I came to a realization. We...we didn't do anything to stop Roman. And in fact, everything we've done has only harmed us. We haven't saved anyone or stopped any of their plans. So. I'm done."

"What do you mean 'done'?" Blake asked, alarmed. 

"I'm done trying to do all of this...I'm ready to just live. To just...be normal. To just... _be._ Not as a savior of the galaxy, an alien living among humans and Faunus. Just...me. Ruby Rose." She looked up at Blake. "Is there really anything wrong with that?"

"I--Ruby, what about Romana? And Torchwick? And the rest?"

Ruby waved it off. "We told Ozpin. As far as call of duty goes, that's the border."

"But Ruby--"

"I'm tired of everything being on me," Ruby whispered. "I'm tired of being the one who has to hunt down Roman, to find his evil plan, to risk the life of my friends, my family, my--my love." She choked back a sob, sniffing. "I don't want you or Yang or Weiss to die because I made the wrong decision. We don't have to fight on. We're _kids,_ Blakey. We're still kids. We can let the grownups do one last thing for us."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to bed." Ruby rolled over, pulling the blanket back over herself. Blake stared, trying to think of what she'd say to Weiss and Yang. She got out of bed, then went to wash up and change. When she came out, she saw Yang starting to sit up and stretch. Weiss was up on her bunk, combing her hair. "When you two are ready, come out so we can talk," Blake told them. The two shared a look, then nodded without saying anything. Weiss did shoot a look to Ruby, seeing the silver-eyed girl buried under a blanket, and looked like she was about to say something but decided against it. 

Blake lead the two to a secluded corner of Beacon, where no students moved around. She explained the situation to them, quickly and quietly. 

"But--what about Romana? And Adam? And Emerald and Mercury?" Yang spluttered. "She can't just be giving up!"

"She's not giving up," Weiss pointed out. "She's letting the people more qualified people take care of things. She's gone through a lot, we can't blame her for being at her limit."

"But we can't fight Romana without her!" Yang said. "We need her."

"We ought to follow her example this time," Weiss grimaced. "I don't like it much, but--"

All three stopped abruptly as a figure came around the bend. Blake dragged her friends behind a pillar, and was glad to notice that the newcomer hadn't noticed them. 

Romana frowned, looking around the room. "Good. No cameras."

"What did you need?" Emerald asked, right behind Romana. 

Romana pulled out her scroll, and texted something to Emerald. Emerald frowned, pulling out her scroll and sent something back. The two continued like this for a minute before both left. 

"Well, there went my single doubt that Emerald wasn't with them," Weiss said quietly. 

"Yeah," Blake said. They returned to their seats, silent for a long time. "What now?" Blake asked. 

"We let Professor Ozpin do his work," Weiss said. 

Qrow had said everything he intended to say. Everything he felt needed to be said. But as he sat there, seeing Pyrrha talk to Amber, he felt as if maybe there was something he'd left unsaid. 

When he looked at Glynda and Ozpin, however, he couldn't begin to think of what it was. 

"Are we sure this is the way?" Glynda finally asked. "She's so young..."

"This is the only way," Ozpin said. "It has to be someone young."

"Those are the rules," Qrow snorted. 

"Qrow."

"You've heard exactly my thoughts on this, I'm not going to repeat them," Qrow snapped, turning away from Ozpin. "You know how I feel."

Ozpin didn't respond to that. Qrow was glad. 

Amber had been nervous enough to start, but she'd eased up. Pyrrha, however, was in no hurry to remind her that Amber was going to die soon. Amber had started talking about her home life. Chatting. Her parents lived still--but she hadn't talked to them in forever, so maybe they weren't. They were good people, of an understanding sort. Her older brother was fairly overprotective, and had never wanted her to become a Huntress. 

Neither of the two girls pointed out that he might have been right about that part. 

Amber paused a moment, then asked, "What's your life like?" They sat at a table in the center of the room, a plate of tea and cookies in between them. Pyrrha sipped her tea, thinking how to explain. 

"Not to interesting, aside from this," she admitted. "Everything else interesting has happened to my friends."

"Stopping a terrorist and getting abducted by aliens," Amber said with a nod. "Ozzie explained that fun stuff. But what's it been like being Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Just helping my friends practice, training for the future," Pyrrha said. "Ruby's been trying to take me in a spar for a while now, and has yet to succeed."

"You're smiling," Amber chuckled, crunching on a cookie. Her face was a network of scars, but Pyrrha could still see that she was smiling back. 

"I don't know what you mean," Pyrrha admitted. "Ruby's a friend."

"Do you have any special friends?" Amber asked, leaning close and smiling. "Any cute boys?"

Pyrrha blinked in surprise as Amber laughed. "I'm joking," she said, waving it off. 

"Well..."

Amber looked up in surprise. 

"I do know one guy whom I am interested in. Do you...do you think I'll still be able to...try and be with him even if I become Maiden?"

"Ozpin would say no. I say that that old fool doesn't know love," Amber snorted. "Try. You never know what you can get if you never try. What's the guy's name?"

"Jaune Arc."

"An Arc," Amber said, sounding impressed. "The two of you would be an amazing Huntsmen duo."

"He's...not that good," Pyrrha admitted sheepishly. "But he's getting there. He is getting there."

"Duh. You _are_ at a school."

"Yeah," Pyrrha said. "We're here to learn, aren't we?"

"Yeah. Just...remember to be on your guard. No matter how skilled you are, there's always someone who can knock you down a peg," Amber said, thumbing towards her face. 

Pyrrha shuddered. "I've...after I started training hard with my parents, after I started getting skills, I...I got pretty much unstoppable. My father couldn't keep up with me in a one-on-one...I even accidentally hurt him badly. He's fine, nowadays, but...the first loss I've suffered in a long time was from Carnelian. She was barely even paying attention to me, too. She was focused on Ladybug. I...she broke my nose and beat me soundly."

"Hmm." Pyrrha noticed that Amber was staring her hard in the face. "What? It doesn't show, right?"

"I just assumed you had a naturally flatter nose than normal, which could still be the case," Amber said with a shrug. "But I would welcome that experience. It's easier to remember you aren't invincible when you have someone who can knock you down. I'd advise you to find a friend who can beat you and have them whoop your ass every once in a while so you remember."

"I'll remember that." She checked the time on her scroll, then nodded. "Sorry. I have places to go."

"Hey. You still have a life to live. Don't apologize for wanting to live it."

"Don't say that. You might still survive."

"Don't," Amber said, shaking her head. "I've accepted it."

Pyrrha's shoulders sagged, and she left.


	17. Storytime, Pt 1

Ruby found the odd building fairly quickly. She opened the door and came in quickly, but halted to a stop just as fast. 

Carnelian held in her hand a bright green diamond, inside an all-too familiar contraption. She looked up, blinking. 

"What the fuck...?" Ruby whispered. 

"Um...I swear..." Carnelian pressed a few buttons on her computer, looking at the screen. "Bad timing."

"What are you doing?" Ruby demanded, charging up to the desk. 

"This isn't a new one, actually," Carnelian said. "Aside from you, she was the closest I ever got. Unfortunately, she couldn't form a body. So...I'm fixing her. I should have gotten this done immediately after I figured out what went wrong with you, but...maybe it's best that I took some time and actually waited and see if it did work. To be entirely honest..." She hesitated, then added, "I wasn't entirely sure that I _had_ fixed you, but I'm glad everything turned out okay." Randomly, she pulled out her pair of reading glasses and put them on, flashing a grin at the diamond. When nothing happened, she looked visibly distressed, then looked back to the computer screen, typing quickly. The device whirred, lights blinking along the sides. 

Ruby hesitated, then turned to leave. 

"Hey. Just give me a minute and I can attend you," Carnelian said without her usual joy--sounding more down than Ruby had heard her before. 

Ruby sat on the ground, watching Carnelian work. The Diamond clearly had a definition of 'minute', as Ruby counted at least thirty of them before Carnelian finally sighed and leaned back, staring at the screen. She took off the glasses, wiping them off despite the fact that they were already spotless. "You know, I've been around for eons. But I only started calling myself Carnelian after I met her. On my last trip to this planet. 

"My ship had landed, and I'd come to one of my bunker labs. I'd started working immediately, and gotten really involved. You remember the ride to Earth, right?"

"Oh, boy," Ruby sighed. "I still can't decipher what the hell you were saying on that trip..."

"Yeah, me neither." Carnelian chuckled before continuing with her story. "Anyways, I'd made a breakthrough--or, so I thought, you--you can probably guess how that went. But it was then that I sensed Aura. I stopped, looking around the room. And I realized something I should have realized roughly thirty minutes ago..."

Orange Diamond stopped, picking up the hat off the desk. She hadn't been in this building in several thousand years. She'd been in her primary lab on Earth, but now...any clothing she'd left would have rotted by now. 

So who's hat was it? And was that a sleeping bag? A lantern? 

A bible of some sort?

She picked up the book, slowly, hefting it up. 

"Did I finally go crazy?" the Diamond asked herself. "No. This book is real. All of this stuff is here. Who's been living in my lab?" She hesitated. "You're still here," she growled. She shoved the desk aside, looking behind it. Not there, no. The Diamond angrily threw the book, looking around the room when she heard a cry of, "Ow!"

The Diamond stomped over, to a shelf that was farther from the wall then she'd left it thousands of years ago. She pulled it away from the wall, glaring down at the green-haired girl with blue, tear-stained eyes, the book on her head. She wore a brown leather tunic and skirt, a sheathed rapier on the ground beside her. 

The real kicker was that she had a bunny ear on her head. The other one appeared to have been ripped off. 

"She-devil!" the girl cried, throwing a hand in between her and the Diamond, covering her face with the other. The Diamond grabbed her hand, seeing the scarring running all along her arm. 

"What are you?" the Diamond asked. "More importantly, who did this to you?"

"You...you never seen a Faunus before?" the girl asked, looking up at her. 

"And it doesn't look like you've seen a Gem before, have you?" the Diamond asked, lifting the girl to her feet. She was heavier than expected--it looked like she was wearing armor beneath the tunic. The Diamond even saw greaves on her legs. "You got a name?"

"V-Viridian," stuttered the girl. 

"Same color as your hair," muttered the Diamond. "What are the odds."

"What's your name?" Viridian asked. "You...you don't like like the devils do."

"Devils...?" She frowned, still holding the girl's hand. "No, I have no name, Viridian."

"Everyone has a name, silly," Viridian said, tugging briefly at her hand. The Diamond didn't let go, and pulled her over to the desk. "What-what are you doing?"

"Getting something for your wounds," the Diamond said. "And I don't have a name, but people call me Orange Diamond."

"Same color as your skin. What are the odds."

The Diamond froze, then turned and put her face inches from Viridian's, giving her a look. The Faunus didn't meet her eyes, suddenly acting as if she'd never seen this room before. 

"Point," the Diamond conceded. "Regardless, it's as much my name as 'Girl' is yours. Not a name, more of a classification."

"What do you want me to call you then?" Viridian asked. 

The Diamond let go of her arm, considering the question as she rifled through a drawer. "I don't really need a name."

"I suppose it's not about necessity," Viridian said. "You don't need a name to live. What name do you want me to call you? Is there...something you like? Perhaps another color?"

"Why would I call myself a different color?" the Diamond muttered. "But...there aren't many orange gems. There's a bunch of red ones, I suppose, but...I guess I've always liked carnelians."

"Then that is your name now!" Viridian said, hands on her hips. "Pleasure to meet you, Carnelian!"

"Awfully trusting of a complete stranger," Orange Diamond--Carnelian--said. She then pulled out a rod-shaped device, pressing a button and scanning Viridian real quick. 

"What is that?" Viridian asked, stepping back. 

"If I use weapons, I make them obvious, learn that about me now," Carnelian stated. "I will not stop every five seconds to tell you something isn't a weapon. This is a medical device--I just scan your physiology and the machine can repair it to its natural state." 

"Medical? Ma-sheen? Fizzy--eulogy--what?"

"...the magic stick heals you," Carnelian said, sighing. _Maybe I could help them invent five hundred years worth of technology._ _That would be a good use of time._

"But I'm not injured," Viridian said. 

Carnelian took her hand tracing along the scarring. "That's not what arms are supposed to look like. I can clearly tell the flesh is damaged, and never fully healed."

"My scars? No magic can heal wounds that were made almost--" She stopped, seeing the scars slowly disappear. "Witchcraft!"

"I prefer sorceress, but I'm not one! Not a witch or wizard or warlock or whatever you call them." She put the rod away, shaking her head. "I'd fix your ear, but regrowing flesh is much different matter entirely. An artificial--er--" She thought over how to explain it to a culture that hadn't invented the word 'machine' yet. "Your body would recognize that it isn't your actual ear, and it wouldn't stay attached." Not exactly what would happen, but close enough. 

"You can use it to save my pa!" Viridian cried. 

"Maybe take a few steps back there, Viridian," Carnelian said, folding her arms over her chest. 

"The humans attacked us again, but this time my pa was hurt. He's dying, and he's our strongest warrior. Without him we--we might not be able to--damn it all! He's my _pa!_ "

Carnelian sighed, rolling her head back. "I've got a lot to dooooooo...oh, shatter me, whatever. Fine, fine, fine." She pulled out a different type of device--one capable of handling larger injuries. "Take me there."


	18. Storytime, Pt 2

Carnelian took a moment to pause, pressing more buttons on the computer. This gave Ruby a little moment to catch up, wrap her head around everything that Carnelian had told her. 

"Viridian sounds like an awesome person," she said. 

Carnelian smiled lightly. "Yes. Yes she was. Is." She tapped the green diamond with one finger. "Just got to fix her like I did you. Shouldn't be too hard. I can do this. Easy. Right?"

"Er, I wouldn't know," Ruby said with a shrug. "I don't even know what went wrong with...either of us."

"Honestly, I got the soul part right with her. That's where I went wrong with you, and kind of..."

"Kind of what?" Ruby asked, eyes narrowing. 

"...um, I'd have thought Yang mentioned it."

"Mentioned what?"

"Well, where was I? Ah, yes--"

" _What did you do to my soul?"_

"Maybe I chipped it, just slightly," Carnelian said, tapping several keys on the computer. "It's no big problem, really."

Ruby sighed. "Of course it isn't."

Many spears were pointed at the newly named Carnelian, but no one raised objections. _So Viridian must be important--maybe her 'pa' is the chief? If he is their strongest warrior, I can imagine a culture like this--clearly pressured and prejudiced against--building themselves a warrior culture of sorts._

Viridian lead the way to a large tent with two guards in front of it. Both pointed spears at Carnelian. 

"She's here to help Pa," Viridian explained. The guards shared a look, then one went in and came back out a minute later with a nod. 

Viridian came into the tent, and Carnelian followed. It was simple--even for the technology level that the Faunus were at. The only things in the tent was a table with a map on it and a row of spears leaning against it. 

There were three Faunus in the room--all women, though whether or not that was for a specific reason was unclear. Each wore mostly leather, though they had metal greaves and vambraces. The one in the center actually had a sword, which was mildly impressive to Carnelian. They clearly did not have much metalworking capabilities, especially if they were constantly fighting, then forging weapons would be almost impossible. So either this woman got the sword forged, or took it from someone else, which Carnelian thought more likely. 

"Ma, I found a healer to help Pa!" Viridian said excitedly, rushing up to the war room table. 

The woman with a sword narrowed her eyes at Carnelian. "Who is she and where did you find her?" she demanded. Clearly, she was desperate, as she was acting opposed to Carnelian's presence. 

"Her name is Carnelian. She was in my wood hideout," Viridian said rapidly. 

"'Your'?" Carnelian muttered. "I built the place."

"By yourself?" the chief said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeh." Carnelian moved around the edge of the room, examining the tent. Each part was a long continuous stretch, not several different skins sewn together. So they came from a large animal. How'd they kill something that big? A lot of somethings, judging by the number of tents there were...

"Are you hearing me?" the woman demanded. 

"Hmm? Sorry, lost in thought," Carnelian chuckled, turning to her. "What did you say?"

"How dare you disrespect her!" one of the other women snapped. "Some nerve you have!"

"You're one to talk about nerve, given I'm the one here to save you're 'strongest warrior' whom would be dead without my intervention," Carnelian said casually. "I mean, if I'm clearly not wanted, I could just walk out."

"You will save him because--"

"Because what?" Carnelian asked. "You'll make? Oh, if you could out power me, you couldn't make me. In the end, I could still choose to let him die. So please. Next time you seek to try to give someone orders, make sure it's someone smaller than you, like you're so clearly used to."

"Forgive her, her specialty is strategy, not manners," the chief said, glaring at her underling. "Any help you can give is willingly accepted. But first. How do I know you are not a spy or devil?"

Viridian extended one arm. "She healed my scars," the girl told her mother. 

"What do you mean by devil?" Carnelian asked. "Cuz I have no idea what you're referring to."

"The Grimm?" the chief's other compatriot said, cocking her head. "Do you not know what a Grimm is?"

"Are they the black-and-white beasts?" Carnelian asked. "Right, they are. Well, I'm orange, if that means anything to you."

"What are you?" the chief asked, narrowing her eyes. 

"Complicated, and if this guy is really as injured as I've been lead to believe, I don't think standing around here to explain will be too helpful, will it?"

"No. No it won't. Come with me. I'll take you to my husband." She lead the way out of the tent. She didn't have rabbit ears, Carnelian noted, but she did have a fuzzy tail on her lower back, where a small hole was cut in her shirt to make room for it. 

_Daw._

Viridian started to follow, but her mother said, "You, stay. Pola, with me." The third woman-- _the non-bitch--_ left and followed, taking up a spear. She didn't have any (visible)rabbit parts, but upon a closer look, what Carnelian had assumed to be a mantle was white fur over her shoulders, that ran along her arm, presumably underneath the vambrace. 

_Looks like a bear,_ Carnelian thought. 

"I am Marald," the chief said. "You were Carnelian?"

"Yes. Admittedly, I didn't care much to find a name for myself until your daughter brought the subject up," Carnelian said with a smile. She opened the flap to the tent they were headed to, having already smelled the blood within. She ignored the guards pointing spears at her, casually walking up to the blood soaked pile on the bed. 

"Can you save him?" Marald asked. 

"Give me some time," Carnelian said. "Stars, though. You people won't have the technology required to help this poor fool for another thousand or so years. What even happened to him?"

"A human was leading the Grimm," Pola said. "A pale one. She sent several to attack us, when we got too close to her."

"Hmm," Carnelian muttered. "Sounds different from the last time I was on this planet. Very different." She pulled out the metal contraption, pushing buttons on it. "Let's see...yes, scan lifeform." The device expanded, hovering above the unconscious warrior. Carnelian watched as it unfolded, lighting him up, beeping. 

"Why do I get the impression you don't know how to use this machine?" Marald asked, narrowing her eyes. 

"It's not that I don't _know,_ it's that I don't have a body the same way you do, so I have no reason to ever really touch this thing much," Carnelian explained. She tapped her orange gem, in the center of her chest. "This--this is me. The body you see is a construct created by this. As long as this thing is still intact, I live."

"So you're almost unkillable," Pola whispered. 

"Mm, pretty much," Carnelian said. "I'm trying to figure out how to make the rest of people like you like this, so no one dies. Or at least, very rarely. As rare as possible. But I have been...unsuccessful...thus far."

"Will he live?" Marald asked. Quietly. 

"Pretty sure," Carnelian said. The machine beeped, and she stepped over, seeing the screen display. "Let's see."

Viridian looked up as the tent flap opened. Carnelian stepped inside, then met Viridian's eyes. And smiled with a nod. "He lives," she said. 

Viridian flew up, wrapping Carnelian in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she cried. 

Carnelian put the reading glasses back on, sitting still for a long moment. "It took ten years, but I did teach them how to use technology. And even built a flying town for them, so they could stay protected from the humans that sought to harm them. I even found some humans that had gotten into trouble hiding Faunus, and they moved right in. I...I don't know what happened to that city, actually. I left after...Viridian..." She reached out and touched the gem. "I...I told her I had it. That I'd gotten it right. I'd believed it, too. Now I wonder...if I wasn't just lying to myself. Telling myself that I wasn't just using her for data. At this point, I don't even know."

There was a long silence, and Carnelian put the glasses away, wiping tears from her eyes. "Dammit, sorry. What did you come to talk about?"

Ruby thought it over. "Actually, you told me what I needed to hear." She smiled. "Thanks. And, good luck with Viridian. If you need me for...I dunno, tests or something...don't hesitate to call! Just, preferably wait two or three days for the tournament to end, but I can technically still just forfeit."

"None of us three would want you to mess up your life for this," Carnelian said. "I'll call if I think you can help. And, um, glad to help? I guess?" She shrugged. 

"No problem." Ruby smiled, a new confidence in her step as she bounced out the door. 

"I don't think I'll ever figure out what she wanted to talk about," she told Viridian, touching the gem. "She's so much like your mother." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: What song will come on next in my playlist while I'm writing this chapter?  
> YouTube shuffle: "The king is dead, but the queen is alive!"
> 
> xd


	19. Chapter 19

"How ya feeling?" Yang asked. 

"Better," Ruby answered. She stretched her arms over her head, a motion that, she realized, was rather useless. "You and I are up after this match, right?"

"Yeah," Yang answered. She winced, watching the fight down in the stadium below. "Ow, that had to hurt."

"In all honesty, Sun deserves to lose this one," Blake said, "just as Jaune and Pyrrha deserve to win."

Originally, they had intended for Weiss and Yang to go to the doubles round, and then Yang to the singles round, because they thought that Yang was the strongest in a one on one fight, and for the doubles round, Weiss was the best to support her in a 2v2. However, after Ruby beat Yang in a one-on-one spar, they decided to have Ruby go on to the singles round. Her Gem powers gave her an edge that few people could really match. 

"We'll be cheering you on," Pearl said, giving her a thumbs up. Before Amethyst could say anything, the entire crowd gave a collective, "Ooh..."

"What'd I miss?" Amethyst asked. 

"That had to hurt," Port's voice said over the loudspeaker. 

"I must say, it had to have indeed," Oobleck agreed. "Mr. Arc's fighting skills have really rounded out over his time at Beacon. It does not look like, however, that Scarlet's skills have."

"And I think that's the match, because--yes, Pyrrha finishes off Sun! Honestly, I don't think those two stood much of a chance. The match lasted almost no time at all."

"Indeed! Five minute break before the next match!" Oobleck announced. 

"We gotta get ready," Yang said, rising. "We're up next."

"Who were you fighting?" Weiss asked. 

"Um...I don't know," Ruby said, sharing a look with Yang. "Oh, well. We'll find out soon enough." The two went down, heading for the waiting room. 

Blake flipped through the tournament announcement page, then froze. "Uh oh."

"Who _was_ it that we were fighting?" Yang asked, stretching her arms as she waited. 

"Um--I think it was some students from Haven?" They stopped out onto the field. 

"What kind of fighting style does one expect from Mistralese?" Ruby added. "Isn't your style of hand-to-hand based off a Mistralese style?"

"That's what Dad said," Yang replied with a shrug. "So maybe we could fight brawlers. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"Oh no," Ruby muttered, seeing the other students. 

"And we're ready for the next match!" Port's voice announced. "Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long versus Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ruby burst out. "Ozpin, this couldn't have been an accident."

Yang didn't see Ruby worked up often, especially in anger like this. 

Up in the stands, Weiss asked Garnet, "Um, how likely is this to end poorly?"

"I can't say percentile chances," Garnet said. "But most of the futures I see are interesting."

"3...2...1...battle!"

Mercury and Emerald slowly walked backwards into the field of grass that their part of the arena contained. Ruby noted the woods beside it, and then behind her and Yang, a field of rocks and geysers, and a ruined city. 

Yang cracked her neck, then opened fire with Ember Celica. The grassy field was obliterated in seconds, burnt ash and grass stalks flying into the air. 

"Where'd they go?" Ruby said, straightening and looking around. "How the hell?"

Mercury slung his leg from behind, hitting Yang in the side. Yang flung back as Mercury kicked up at Ruby, his leg narrowly missing her head but striking her in the back as he spun it back. Ruby converted Rose Thorn to sword form, unable to use the scythe to block Mercury with the scythe when he was right in her face. 

"Alright, punk," Yang said, straightening and moving towards Mercury. A chain wrapped around her chest, causing her to remember that it was a two-on-two spar right before she found herself yanked and pulled into the woods. 

"Yang!" Ruby cried. Mercury slammed his boot into her face, knocking her back. She popped her jaw, rubbing it. 

"No hard feelings?" Mercury asked. 

"This isn't what causes hard feelings," Ruby said simply. Mercury lunged forward, bouncing off her blade and over it, firing shots at her back. She ducked beneath the gunfire, then slashed at him. He flipped back, dodging her thrust. 

"I mean, it isn't personal, right?" Mercury corrected himself. The entire time, he didn't stop attacking--making Ruby think he wasn't entirely paying attention. She ducked around him, slashing at his side. He caught her hand by the wrist, then flipped her over him while doing a cartwheel, kicking her hard in the stomach. 

Cuz at a certain point, you had to start showing off. 

Ruby spun in the air, dashing and spinning with a flurry of petals, landing in the geyser field, on her feet. Mercury jumped into the air, flying towards her and slinging a leg at her. Ruby flung up Rose Thorn, in full scythe mode, and blocked to the sound of ringing metal. The stones cracked beneath her feet, and several nearby geysers erupted. Ruby gritted her teeth, then shoved Mercury off. He landed on his hands, spinning and throwing a series of kicks at her. She parried with the scythe, then brought the massive blade down on top of him. He rolled to the side, landing on his feet as the scythe shattered stone where he'd been standing. 

"Whatever you are planning--you're damn right that I'm taking it personally," Ruby growled, lunging. He blocked her scythe swing, but she slammed her head into his as hard as she could. Being a Gem, she was not particularly harmed by this. Mercury, however, stumbled backwards, blinking and rubbing his eyes. He recovered just in time to see the back end of a fast, red scythe hit him square in the face. 

Yang grounded her feet, flipping Emerald through the air by her chain. Emerald landed in a crouch, opening fire. Yang weaved her way to the side, firing off a few shots at Emerald, who jumped up the side of a tree. Yang fired at where Emerald was going to jump off--but her shot didn't hit anything. Yang fired, shooting the tree down. Emerald was gone. 

"I'm here," Ruby said from behind her. 

"She vanished into the trees," Yang said. "Careful. Her bullets hurt like hell, and she could be--"

A loud buzzer sound interrupted her. She looked up to catch the scoreboard indicate that Mercury had just been outed. 

"...And with that, Mercury Black is out! Ruby knocked him in the head, stunning him, and then just kept up the attack! Very quickly brought his Aura from half to almost nothing in the split second he was dazed. Brilliant move on her part!" Oobleck announced. "Wait, where did Yang and Emerald go?"

"Ruby, how did you--?" Yang turned around. 

Ruby wasn't there. 

"What the hell?" Yang whispered, watching the woods around her. "Ruby?"

She was shaking. Was...did Emerald use her Semblance? Was this what it did? 

Or was she just going crazy? Maybe she was. Maybe she was--

All of a sudden, a single bird flew across her field of vision. A small dark raven. How'd it even get into the place? 

Her mind focused--on the sound of a blade moving through air behind her. She spun, caught it by the chain, and yanked Emerald towards her, plowing her fist into the green-haired girl's face and slamming her into the forest floor hard enough to knock the nearby trees down. 

"And that's the match!" Port cried. "Yang took on Emerald! Team RWBY is victorious!"

Scattered cheering came up through the crowd as Yang took a step back, breathing deeply. She looked for the raven, but it appeared to be gone. Ruby tackled her sister, wrapping her arms around Yang. "We did it! We actually did it!"

"Yeah." Yang broke free, looking once more into the sky. 

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all. Just...thought I saw some things. Must have been more stressed than I thought."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, contrary to what a few people may think, I did actually look up on the wiki to see if it has been confirmed what kind of hand-to-hand style Yang uses. I was distressed to find it did not say so, and if I remember correctly, it did say that her father taught her--or, I might have just assumed that, as it was almost certainly the case. I took a liberty with what the show didn't say and said that Tai uses a Mistralese fighting style. That being said, in the RWBY canon, there is no such person as Romana, or Norse, so saying that Tai uses the wrong fighting style is hardly the worst thing going on this fic.  
> For several reasons. If it was said somewhere what kind of hand-to-hand Tai and Yang use, please link to it!


	20. Chapter 20

"OZPIN!"

This was not the first time someone had called the headmaster's name in primal, berserk rage, and somehow, he doubted it would be the last. What struck him this time was that the Crystal Gems were the last people he'd expected to be mad at him. 

Garnet charged up to his desk, Pearl and Amethyst on either side of her. 

Ozpin shared a look with Qrow, muting the tournament match on his screen. "There always seems to be someone I make mad. But I am having trouble thinking of what you'd be mad at me for."

"You used Ruby and Yang as bait!" Garnet said. Clearly, simply. 

"I...what?" Ozpin frowned. "I don't follow."

"You changed the tournament so that Ruby and her sister would fight Emerald and Mercury, to bait them into attacking and trying to kill them!" Garnet said. 

"So that you could catch and arrest them!" Amethyst added. 

"Even the noblest intentions fail to justify the means of _murdering children,_ " Pearl snarled. 

Qrow frowned. "Oz?"

"Really, Qrow?" Ozpin said, looking towards his friend. With a sigh, he turned to the Gems. "These accusations are so wild I can't even think of what caused you to think them."

"I saw the future," Garnet said with a low growl. "Futures where Ruby or Yang--or both--were injured or _died_ in that fight when Emerald couldn't control herself, couldn't restrain herself. And I saw how you handled the situation in all those futures."

"So...let me get this straight..." Ozpin spun his chair to face them better, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You...came all the way up here, barged into my office, and interrupted my watching the tournament...so you could yell at me for arresting criminals for murdering my friends in alternate timelines. All of this thrown in with an evidenceless, baseless, lie."

"Oh, don't act like that's everything," Pearl said. 

"But it is everything," Qrow growled. "You come in here and insult one of my closest and most trusted friends like that. Get out. Just get out!"

After a second, Amethyst said, "Um, did you not hear about the future--"

"Get out before I throw you out!" Qrow warned, pointing at the door. With silence, the Crystal Gems filtered out. 

Ozpin reached to unmute the tournament, but Qrow held up his hand. "You didn't do that, right?"

"Of course not," Ozpin said. "I don't know whose idea it was pitting them against each other, but no one was hurt, were they?"

"No," Qrow agreed. 

"I wish the Crystal Gems had stayed for us to continue talking to them," Ruby said, slurping from her bowl of noodles. "We haven't really gotten to talk to them at all."

"Welcome to my world," said a voice from behind. They turned to see Spinel take a seat to the right of their group, leaning her back against the bar. "If you don't live on the same planet as people, you'll find that you seldom have opportunities to talk about, or things to talk about in general."

"I mean," Yang said, chewing, "I'm still not sure why they left."

"Garnet seemed angry," Weiss said. "I'd say someone called her up with bad news, but no one called her the entire time."

"Could it have been her future vision?" Yang asked. "Maybe she saw someone doing something she didn't like?"

"Garnet is what happens when a mystery and an enigma Fuse," Spinel sighed. "I don't think anyone really 'gets' Garnet."

"Fair," Ruby said. "What do you think, Blake?"

Blake lifted her face out of her bowl, then belched really loudly, turning a bright crimson. "S-sorry, I wasn't really following the-the conversation. What was the question?" She smiled sheepishly, wiping a bit of fish off her face.

There was an awkward silence. 

Ruby wiped off Blake's face with a napkin, grinning. "Well, Garnet's always seemed...just there to me. Like she's just busy existing, just being her."

"While I wouldn't have put it like that, I do agree with the sentiment," Weiss noted, nodding. "But I feel like Fusions like that would simply be happy existing."

"Especially Fusions like that," Ruby whispered to Blake with a smile. "Well, I've got to go get ready for the Finals round this evening. I'll win you guys a victory for Beacon!"

"You seem to be forgetting that you'll end up against Pyrrha sooner or later," Yang pointed out. 

"First time for everything!" Ruby said, shrugging. "Later! Wish me luck!" She moved off quickly, a skip in her step. 

"Wow," Spinel said. "She seems like an awesome person to have as a friend."

"Yup," all the friends said in unison. "Best sister I could have asked for," Yang intoned. 

"She's always there when we need her," Weiss added. "She's an amazing friend and team leader."

"All we need to worry about is being there for when she needs us," Blake said, sliding her empty bowl away and wiping off her mouth with a napkin. 

"Blake, is that a second bowl?" Yang asked slowly. "When did you even buy that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Blake said. She belched again, covering her mouth quickly. 

"Of course," Weiss said with a smile. 

"So...how're things going on with your tournament?" Amber asked. "Flat Face?"

"Flat Face?" Pyrrha said, closing the door behind her and frowning. "What kind of a nickname is that? Is this about my nose?"

Amber winced. "Sorry, didn't think you'd take it so personally." She reclined in her chair, stretching her arms. Pyrrha sat down and rubbed her nose, which, despite Amber's assurances, could be definitely identified as a nose that had been broken at some point in her life. "How's the tournament?"

"Good so far," Pyrrha said. "We made it to the Singles round. Now I just have to try my best tonight to get to win."

"You seem like you will win, but try not to make any stupid mistakes," Amber cautioned. "'Too brave' is a thing."

"I think I've got this," Pyrrha said, nodding. "There are only a couple of students I need to worry about."

"Is Ruby one of them?"

Pyrrha shook her head, sadly. "No, I don't think so. My biggest concern with who can take me on is Penny Polendina, a student from Atlas. She...she's almost single-handedly won her team every fight so far. Almost fighting four at once, in the first round. Her teammates barely had to help..."

"Sounds tough," Amber said. She got up, pulling a thing of cereal out of a pantry, and dumped some milk in it. "You want some?"

"I...don't actually like Pumpkin Pete's that much," Pyrrha admitted, smiling shyly. "It's an honor having my picture on the box, but it's unhealthy and too sweet."

Amber frowned, turning the box around. "What the f...that's your face! I can't believe I never noticed that before! I just thought it was some random cartoon character."

"I don't look like a cartoon character," Pyrrha said, frowning. 

"Girl, you care way too much about how you look," Amber said. "Who cares if your picture on a cereal box looks kind of Photoshopped, or if your nose looks like it was broken?"

"I guess you're right," Pyrrha said. She touched her nose. "It's not that bad, is it?"

Amber gave her a flat look. "See my face? A raging psychopath with a Grimm-glovey thing slashed my face with a demon bug. And I am not sitting here, complaining about whether or not my nose looks broken. Because that's not what matters, is it?"

"Well, it does matter, just not as many other things going on right now," Pyrrha pointed out. "Sorry, that came out--"

"For crying out loud, stop apologizing so much!" Amber burst out with suddenly. "You still have a bit of time before the Singles round, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm sure your team would love to talk to you before you move on," Amber said. "There will be plenty of time for worrying about things--my death, Ironwood's...last resort, Cinder--later. For now, your team would like to talk to you, I'm sure of it."

Pyrrha was leaning against a wall, sitting on the ground, when a figure stood over her. Jaune, holding up a thing of cotton candy. "It's no algae, but I'm sure it'll help."

Pyrrha smiled. "Thanks, Jaune." He sat next to her, and she plucked off a piece of the candy, popping it into her mouth. 

"You're welcome. Can I do anything else for you?"

"You already are," Pyrrha said, leaning against Jaune and closing her eyes. Jaune stiffened. After a moment, a thought occurred to her. "Jaune..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you believe in destiny?"

"The Singles Round is about to start, everyone," Roman Torchwick called out. "Be ready."

"Let's start the show," Romana said to the assembled White Fang thugs and fallen Huntsmen. She tapped a few buttons on her scroll. 

"Our first match of the final round--Ruby Rose versus Coco Adel!" Port's voice called out on the TV screen. 

Romana grinned. "Come on then, people. Destiny's waiting behind these velvet curtains."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just for anyone who asks, I'm writing this with a broken A key. That meaning, it's almost completely missing, so there are certain words that I need to write quite a bit--for example, RomAnA--tht are particularly troublesome to write.   
> Truly, the worst thing to happen in 2020.


	21. Chapter 21

The platform raised above the rest of the arena. Spotlights shown down on the two combatants, who already had their weapons out. 

"Good luck, Coco!" Ruby said with a grin and a raised fist. 

Coco straightened her glasses. "You, too. And I just gotta say...you have earned my respect time and again. By not bowing down, by continuing to chase down your dreams, even after all the shit you've been through. That being said, I fully intend to win this tournament."

"Same here," Ruby said with a shrug. "But I don't think either of us are ever getting past Pyrrha."

Coco laughed. "Aye. Ain't that the truth."

"3...2...1..." 

There was a tense moment. 

"Go!"

Coco immediately brought ought her Gatling gun, opening fire through a cloud of rose petals. Coco ceased fire, trying to figure out when Ruby had even moved. _Behind me,_ Coco thought, bringing up her handbag to parry a scythe swing. Ruby was keeping at the edge of her own reach, slashing at Coco, spinning around with the scythe. Coco blocked with the bag, sparks shining off the steel. Coco blocked the scythe, knocking it back and stepping in, swinging up towards Ruby's face. Ruby stepped back, converting her weapon to a sword for the closer combat. She blocked Coco's next swing, then brought the sword down hard on Coco. Coco blocked with her purse, the sword passing by her face--close enough so that the gunshot appeared to shake the world. Her glasses fell crooked as the force-field at the edge of the stadium flashed blue, deflecting Ruby's shot. A few strands of hair fell from Coco's head. 

Coco whistled, then jumped back, out of range of Ruby's weapon and converting her weapon to its Gatling gun form. Ruby converted her weapon to full gun form, and raced a circle around Coco, who opened fire. Ruby weaved backwards and forwards, always just dodging the gunfire, and even dashing through the hail of bullets with her Semblance. She fired off a single shot, which Coco sidestepped. Coco continued her fire, but was startled when Ruby, instead of continuing to weave back and forth, ran forward, dashing through the stream of bullets, and landing on top of Coco's gun, swinging a scythe around. Coco ducked her head back, swinging her weapon up and converting it to a handbag. Ruby slashed down at her, and Coco brought up her bag to meet the scythe. The ringing of steel filled the stadium, and Ruby was flung backwards, over the edge of the platform. Coco grinned to herself, letting herself relax slightly. 

Which was when Ruby jumped through the air, holding onto her gun and firing shots of gravity Dust beneath her. She hurtled into the air, then shot towards Coco faster than Ruby's bullets had moved. Coco brought up her bag to block, but Ruby didn't go for Coco. She hit the ground, slamming her scythe hard into the platform. The entire arena shook, and for a split second, Coco's feet left the ground. Ruby blitzed past her, striking her and knocking her into the air. Coco spun in the air, trying to get a grip on what was going on. She didn't have time to recover before Ruby shot past her several more times, striking her repeatedly. She landed on the ground, and struck Coco hard in the side, sending the older girl flying. Coco skidded across the platform, her bag falling next to her and her sunglasses hitting the ground and shattering. 

Coco barely heard Port announcing the end of the match. Her entire focus went to the broken glasses.

"Sorry, Mom," she whispered, picking up one of the broken shards. Ruby came over, looking down at her. Then, she grinned, saying, "Sunglasses aren't gonna be the only thing to break."

Coco barely had time to register the comment before Ruby drew her sword and thrust it right at her. In a panic, Coco knocked Ruby's hand aside, grabbing for her purse, jumping to her feet, and, in one, smooth motion--slashing at Ruby and stumbling backwards. 

She blinked then, because Ruby didn't have a demonic grin on her face. She had a look of betrayed shock. And she did not hold her weapon out--no, her weapon had vanished entirely. She had been stretching out her hand--to help Coco to her feet?

Ruby fell in half, cut right above her Gem. Then she dissipated in a poof of red smoke, the red diamond falling to the ground. 

Immediately, a squad of Atlesian Knights drew guns on Coco, charging up across the arena and circling her. Blake was right behind them, Yang and Weiss just behind her. 

"Ruby!" Blake cried, picking up Ruby. 

"Check for cracks," Weiss said. 

"She looks fine," Yang said. Clenching her fists, she glared up at Coco. "What the hell? Why did you do that?" she cried. 

Coco found she couldn't answer. Her mouth suddenly refused to make sound, and she couldn't say anything. She just looked up, where they were replaying the clip. 

Ruby had come over to help Coco to her feet. She had stretched out her hand. And Coco had jumped to her feet, cutting Ruby in half. The Gem hadn't even bothered putting up her Aura. 

Romana puffed out a blast of red smoke. "Places, please!" Roman didn't move from her left, but Romana turned to the one who stood at her right. "I told you that Ruby would make a much better start to the show, now didn't I?"


	22. Chapter 22

"I...I thought I saw her trying to attack me," Coco whispered. "I...I don't know what happened. I...I..."

"Sometimes, when you're stressed, when adrenaline is pumping through your veins, you see things that aren't real," Ironwood said. They stood in CFVY's dorm, the four teammates sitting on their beds. Two Knights stood outside the door, but otherwise, Ironwood was alone. "I've had it happen to me once or twice. Several close friends have mine have had similar things--especially in life-threatening circumstances. But, there have got to be consequences. You are confined to your--"

The door burst open, and Ruby Rose came in, Penny Polendina right beside her. Right outside, Ruby's team hung by. The curious thing was with Ruby herself, as her dress was currently almost entirely white, as well as her hood, as if it had been bleached. 

"Wait!" she said. "Wait."

All eyes turned to her, but Ironwood first shot Penny a glance before addressing Ruby. "What is it?"

"I think...I think Roman is behind this," Ruby said. "Me and my team had considered that Roman was going to do something during the tournament."

"Forgive me, Ruby, but I fail to see how Torchwick can make people imagine things," Ironwood said. 

"But I think he can," Ruby explained. 

There was a stunned silence. "Please, continue," Ironwood encouraged. 

"When Roman was piloting an Atlesian Paladin, he had his friend. But when he retreated, we saw him in a place he wasn't," Ruby continued. "The Gem--Neo--Neo something--she can create copies of things, like Blake."

"Even so, that Semblance wouldn't work to do this," Coco interrupted. "You would have seen a copy, and it would have been caught on cameras, not to mention that a Gem like that could hardly just walk into Beacon. And it's not likely for Roman to have two people with almost identical Semblances. Please, I messed up, I need to take--"

"I hate to interrupt," Yang interrupted, stepping just inside the doorway. "But, when Ruby and I fought Emerald and Mercury, I thought--I thought I saw Ruby in the forest. But she never entered the forest. She fought Mercury in the geyser fields. At the time, I thought it was just stress, but what if Emerald was doing something? With her Semblance?"

There was a silence. "Officially, Emerald hasn't unlocked her Semblance yet, but we also know that none of those four ever went to Haven for real," Penny stated. "It stands to reason that if her Semblance was something they wanted to use to manipulate people, they wouldn't tell people she had it."

"Quite right," Ironwood said stiffly. "Good work, you two. Coco, it would be best for you to just stay inside for right now. Until we have everything sorted out. I'll send some people to see if we can find Emerald, and if we do, get her out of the arena. Ruby, you just go rest before your up again. Good luck."

Ruby nodded, stepping out of the room with Penny and Yang. "Thanks for getting us in," Ruby said, elbowing Penny. "Couldn't have done it without you."

Penny punched Ruby hard in the shoulder, knocking the Gem over. "No problem, friend! Always here to help! If you need me, I'll be back in the tournament!" She stopped. "Actually, that means I most likely won't be available, but I'm sure Ironwood would let you talk to him! Ruby?"

Ruby hopped to her feet. "Actually, not as bad as I expected." She gave a thumbs up. "Good luck, Penny!" As the android walked off, she turned to face the rest of her team. "Okay. Weiss, Blake, you go look for Adam and Romana--see if you can find them. Yang, go check in with the rest of the Gems--Spinel, Peridot and Lapis, Jasper, all of them. Tell them something big is about to happen at Amity--"Tourmaline, too. I'm going to head back to Amity, to monitor everything going on up there."

The three of them nodded, moving out. Ruby grimaced, shoulders slumping. In a matter of minutes, she was back in Amity, moving between the seats. The next match was about to start. She left the seating area, moving up to the top of Amity. Near was a restroom, and the employee's only area, pulling out her scroll. Then, she put it out, almost on a whim, and pulled out a different device. The Gem tracker. It showed a red dot for herself, in the center of the screen. Nearby was an orange dot--Carnelian. Then there was a pink dot. Neo. But where was she? She wasn't in Amity. Ruby looked up through the force field roof, in that direction. The only thing in that direction was...was the ship containing Cinder. Neo was breaking out Cinder. No..

She suddenly caught the memory flash, Neo giving Yang a smirking grin. The same smirk that Cinder had given her. Both had been entirely silent. 

"On no," Ruby whispered. When had they made the swap? How had they made it? Was Ironwood a spy? Or was it just some of his soldiers? How had no one noticed? She broke into a run, but stopped in her track, resolve growing as she saw Mercury standing above a guard--who was either dead or unconscious. "What are you doing?" Ruby said warningly. 

"Oh, nothing much," Mercury said, shrugging. Then Port's voice boomed across the loudspeaker. 

"Our next match--Penny Polendina versus Pyrrha Nikos!"

Mercury grinned, and after a moment, shock ran through Ruby. 

"Polarity versus robot," Mercury chuckled. "Bad match up."

She pulled her scroll back out, but he immediately shot it from her hands. "Let's keep this between us," he said. Ruby pulled Rose Thorn from her Gem, pointing the blade at him. More than a little concerned, Mercury took up a fighting stance. 

"I beat you once," Ruby said. "Just get out of my way."

Mercury seemed to consider it. "Naw," he said. 

"It was Lapis, right?" Yang asked. "And Peridot?"

"Yes," the blue Gem said, nodding. "Lapis Lazuli, this is Peridot."

"You already met me," Spinel said. "That's right, so great to meetchagain! This is our other friend, Jasper. She's..."

"Not your friend," Jasper corrected. 

"Why are you even here?" Peridot asked, looking at the big fighter. 

"I still can't figure out alcohol," Jasper admitted, starring at the cup in front of her. "What's the point of drinking it if it doesn't do anything, and isn't enjoyable?"

"I think you have to be able to get drunk," Yang explained slowly. "Anyway, Ruby needs all of you at Amity. Something's about to happen."

"What's about to happen?" Peridot asked. 

"Perhaps something, perhaps nothing, but does staying here answer the question?" Carnelian asked, stepping into the bar. Eyes shot to her--and not just because her skin is orange. She was armed, carrying her axe. "Ozpin called me out, and I figured that I might as well."

A gasp ran through everyone in the bar. 

"What happened?" Yang asked, spinning around. After a moment, her eyes fell on the television, broadcasting the tournament. And her jaw dropped. 

The startled gasp of the crowd shocked Ruby out of her fight with Mercury. She turned her head, for a split second, seeing the arena. And she stumbled, walking to the edge. "No..."

The announcer's voice changed. It wasn't Port or Oobleck speaking. It was Cinder. 

"This is what all the recent events have been culminating to. One kingdom's prize student brutally ripping apart the prize student of another. This is the second of Ozpin's students to assault another person tonight, and this time, the victim lies dead at her feet. However, we can also see that a third of Ozpin's students tried to falsely imprison me, and Ozpin skipped any form of 'fair trial'. You have to wonder what Ozpin is teaching his students, don't you?

"And then there's Penny Polendina. What use, might I ask, would Atlas have for a mechanical fighter that looks like a small girl? Grimm don't care about appearances. They don't care if they're prey is innocent or guilty, cute or villainous. The only use for something like this is to fool humans. Ironwood can't hope to fool Grimm, but it seems to me that Ozpin is all too fallible.

"Let me tell you--I don't know about Vacuo, but I hail from Mistral. And the situation there is equally lacking."

The transmission cut off then. There was a dead silence over the arena. But it was shattered by the screech. The screech of a Nevermore landing on the force field. 

The Grimm had started to swarm. 


	23. Chapter 23

Pyrrha still couldn't wrap her head around what had happened. There was an odd ringing sound going on. She couldn't hear anything else. 

She blinked, trying to understand. Penny had struck...she'd had so many swords...where were they? 

Why was she lying on the ground like that? Weren't they sparring still?

_"We're fine! Weiss and I are fine! See?"_

_"It's okay, sweetie. I wasn't exactly in my prime anyway..."_

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Penny was fine. 

One of Penny's swords hit the ground, piercing through a scrap of cloth. Suddenly, the ringing stopped, and following it was that deep, true kind of silence. The silence that hides away the screams of the world, the silence that doesn't just stop sound, it stopped everything. Pyrrha's vision cleared. 

Penny had been ripped to pieces. And by Pyrrha Nikos. The one destined to save the world. 

Tears welled up in her eyes. She sat, staring, with that all consuming silence around her. She didn't hear anything. She didn't care about anything else. Then she was thrown to the ground, a massive gust of wind hitting her hard. Pyrrha rolled onto her back, looking up as a Nevermore less than a dozen feet from her. It had broken through the force field, and was focused on Pyrrha. 

Part of Pyrrha didn't care. Part of her just wanted to scream, and welcomed the horrible, painful death. The rest of her was frozen solid, trying to move but unable to. As the Nevermore screamed, something fell from the sky. A crimson burst, knocking down the Nevermore. Ruby hopped off, pulling Pyrrha away. Toward's Penny's body. Ruby pulled out her scythe, pointing it down at the Nevermore. She had a determined look on her face, despite the fact that her clothing was a bleached white. The Nevermore rose again, screaming, but more students jumped down from the seating. Ren and Fox jumped down, both slashing at the Grimm's eyes as they passed. Arslan Altan, an exchange student, shot into the air, slinging Nora towards the Nevermore. Magnhild struck the Nevermore in the crown, putting it down again. Finally, Yatsuhashi Daichi and Sage fell on either side of the Grimm's neck, sawing through it with ease. 

The Nevermore died, and Ruby turned around. 

"Ruby...I'm...I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. This wasn't you." Ruby turned and shot a glare towards Sun and his team. "It's my fault, for giving up the hunt, and it's the fault of Cinder. And you guys do have a share in the blame," she spat venomously at SSSN. 

"We...we didn't know," Sun whispered. 

"No faith or trust, then?" Ruby scoffed. "Come on, guys. We have a city to save. Who's gonna fight with me?"

"It's what we owe," Sun said, stepping up with his team. 

"Is there even a question?" Yatsuhashi asked. 

"Not our city, but that doesn't mean not our business," Arslan said, punching her fists together. 

Jaune came over, stretching out a hand to Pyrrha. Pyrrha unsteadily rose to her feet, then used her Semblance to bring her spear and shield towards her. "Ruby..."

"It's not your fault," Ruby repeated sternly. "It's Cinder's. Emerald used her Semblance on you--some kind of illusion Semblance. I notice she disappeared rather quick, too."

"Ready?" Jaune asked, holding out a hand to Pyrrha. Pyrrha hesitated, then grabbed Jaune's hand in her own. 

A screech split the air. "Griffons," Ren said, looking up. Pyrrha looked up as well, seeing the twisted Grimm circling above the defenseless stadium. 

"Go," said a familiar voice. Port and Oobleck had their weapons out, pointed up at the Griffon.

"We can fight!" Ruby argued, but Port shook his head. "And that choice is up to you. But there is nothing for you to do here. Let us deal with these ones--you! Show us what we taught you!"

"But--"

"Ruby, we are Huntsmen, too," Oobleck said. "We can handle a few Griffons."

"And yes! You are Huntsmen, too!" Port cried. "The work is never about the skill! It is about the heart! The courage! Everyone of you has the heart of a Huntsman! Now, _go! Be heroes!"_

How did you break someone? How did you shatter them? How did you knock them down and make them not even want to get up? You told them they were safe. You told them everything was okay. You gave them false scares, so that with each one, they felt safer. And no one was more vulnerable than the one who said, "I am safe."

Chewing on her cigar, Romana grinned. And boy, had she broken this city. She had brought it to its knees. And the show wasn't even over yet.

Roman stepped up onto the hallway, striding down, tapping his cane and a pink-colored umbrella against the chrome flooring. He stepped up to the door, smashing the lock with his cane. "Wako wako, Neo. Showtime." 

The illusion fell down from Neo, Cinder's face disappearing and pink Gem uncrossing her legs and rising. Neo took her umbrella, grinning. "Thanks," she said hoarsely. 

Roman's eyes opened wide, and Neo grinned, tapping her Gem. "Has its perks," she croaked. 

"Well, remind me to give my thanks to this Carnelian person," Roman laughed, grabbing Neo by the waste, spinning around, and tossing her into the air. "You can talk again!"

"I've spent my time well," Neo chuckled. "Now. Have you spent yours?"

Roman pulled out a device. "Oh, sweet baby girl. You have no idea."

"Show me."

Roman barged across the ship, stepping over the wreckage of Atlesian knights. He stepped onto the bridge, inserting the device into a slot. Its screen lit up with the image of a black queen over a red background. 

"The gift from dear Mr. Watts?" Neo asked. 

"And let's see what our dear Atlesian friend has given us this time."


	24. Chapter 24

Ironwood looked greatly distressed and solemn as the students came out, standing over a dead Beowulf. Behind him, civilians were being evacuated on Atlesian Airships. Ironwood turned to the students, about to say something, but Ruby spoke first. 

"We're fighting for Beacon."

"If that is your choice," Ironwood said. "But no one will blame you for seeking safety. I believe we've already lost Beacon. My goal is to just save its citizens, and its inheritance." He gestured to the students. "Please. Let no one else die."

Ruby nodded, then said, "Jaune! I need your scroll!" Without question, Jaune handed it to her and she immediately dialed Tourmaline. 

"'Ello, love!" she cried in her bombastic voice. "I'm on my way to Amity right now, to help evac the civs. Anything I should know before I go into your parking lot?"

"There's a lot of Grimm up here," Ruby said. "Did Yang get to you?"

"No, she didn't. One of the other students told me what happened--I didn't have my TV on, I was napping when I woke up to screams. Only that ginger chick gave me a clear answer on what was happening."

 _Ginger?_ Ruby looked back at Pyrrha and Nora. She frowned. "Who--who told you?"

"Uh, I don't know your name--you know what? Nevermind, love, say hi! You're on speaker!"

"Hello, Rose. I just want you to know, _do_ take this personally."

"Tourmaline, get out!" Ruby cried. Too late, she saw Tourmaline's red and blue ship flying overhead. Then, a gunshot sounded, and Tourmaline screamed from the scroll. The cockpit exploded, and Tourmaline's ship crashed into one of the civilian carrying ships. Both exploded in a display of fire and superheated steel. Then, a massive sigil of a blue clock, glowing, seemingly burned into the night sky, appeared underneath the ships, and they stopped exploding, suddenly. Moreover, they stopped. Frozen, in the air, and out of the floating wreckage stepped Romana. 

She walked over to a piece of shrapnel, only a dozen feet from where the shocked students stood, and bowed. Then, she jumped off. A building collapsed nearby, and she landed on top of the falling rubble, which fixed and repaired itself, bringing itself up. 

The two ships finished exploding, the shrapnel falling down to the Earth. Ruby gritted her teeth, clenching one hand into her fist. Using Jaune's scroll, she called down his locker onto Amity, and jumped on top of it. She punched in new coordinates, flying down to the ground, landing feet from the wreckage. 

It was worse than she'd expected. 

She could put names to some of the people there. There was that nice comic seller. Chrome, who always went to the library on Thursdays and they talked while Ruby sought out new comics. Even the ones she couldn't name were familiar faces--that kindly old shopkeeper, the homeless person she always flipped some lien to. That was one of her friends from Signal! Two of them, who'd come to Vale to watch the tournament!

She'd barely kept herself from crying before she saw Tourmaline. It was worse then, because Tourmaline was still alive. 

_"Kill me."_

Shaking off her bad memories, Ruby forced herself forward. Tourmaline was splattered in blood. Her Gem was in a million pieces, lying around her, and a massive hole was in her neck where her Gem had been. 

"I reckon that could have gone better, love," Tourmaline whispered, almost inaudibly. 

"T-tourmaline! W-what do I do? How do I help you? I can go get Steven's tears and--" Ruby collapsed next to Tourmaline, sobbing, unable to speak. Tourmaline fumbled, taking two tries to grab Ruby's hand. The blue hand felt code, but the blood wasn't even freezing.

"No magic spit's gonna help this, love," Tourmaline whispered. "But...before I die...give me a promise."

"What?" Ruby choked, clutching Tourmaline. "No. No! I can't lose more friends tonight! I won't let--"

"I've accepted this, Ruby," Tourmaline hissed. "Just listen. Don't be stupid. Love your friends and family as they love you. Save everyone you can." She punched Ruby in the shoulder with her red hand, which sizzled Ruby's pale dress. 

"Give Romana...a rough one for me. Tell her...that was low of her." She coughed, then her eyes closed. Ruby closed her eyes as well, feeling Tourmaline's fingers slip from her own. A dull 'clunk' echoed through the street as her gauntlet hit the street. 

Beowulves, Creeps, a Taijitu, and even a Deathstalker circled around her, waiting a hesitant, tense moment. 

Then, Ruby opened her furious, vengeful eyes, and they blazed silver. 

Romana sat down in an office chair, looking at the deserted office, listening to the screams and carnage below. She smiled, but it faded quickly. For the second time her life, her heart grew heavy, and she dialed up Roman. 

"Hey, brother."

"Romana? I saw your stunt. Way to strike--"

"Enough. Let me speak. Do not interrupt." Romana breathed in, then out. "I die tonight. The closer we get to this night, this hour, the harder it is to pull things from past this night. I can still do as much as I want--but only before--" She checked her watch. "Gods. Next ten minutes. But...be safe brother. Salem is out for you and I--she hates loose ends. I know she knows that I die tonight. I know she plans to kill you, too. Don't die, dumbass. You hear me?"

"I--I--but why would you join with her if she's just going to kill us?"

"Because." The smile returned to Romana's face, and she heard feet racing up the staircase. "I told you before. I just want to watch the world burn, Roman."

She jumped to her feet, throwing her scroll out the window and using her Semblance on the roof. The roof collapsed inwards, striking the door just as Ruby burst through it. 

_But._

_How the HELL does SHE kill me? HOW?_

Romana pulled out her cane, activating its weapon form. It turned into a sword with a serrated, chainsaw edge which she pointed at Ruby. None of her usual gusto went into this. 

Ruby landed on her feet, tossing aside the boulder. More than anything else, she looked furious. Romana briefly flicked her eyes out the window, noting that none of the circle of Grimm had moved in on the lone warrior. 

_Of course._

She spun her sword around, pacing towards a clearer spot in the room. More room. Ruby had superior agility, and probably skill. Romana had only ever been in one other fight since she'd gotten her Semblance that was fair. She'd only won because of outsider interference. 

Ruby pointed her scythe at Romana. "You're going to answer for what you've done."

"Please. You're here to kill me, so come on then! _Do it."_

Ruby didn't move. 

"Go on! Do it! I killed your friends. My plans put them in the grave and ruined your city. So come on! _Kill me!_ "

Ruby lunged, slashing with her scythe. Romana parried, feeling the weight of each swing of the monstrous weapon. _This girl has not had much fun, judging by her amount of work,_ Romana thought, stepping aside and slashing towards Ruby's face. Ruby sidestepped the swing, but Romana collapsed the floor beneath her. Ruby propelled herself off the ground, firing at Romana. Romana blocked the bullet out of midair as she stepped around the gaping hole in the floor. Then, the older woman charged, viciously attacking with her blade, but grunting under the effort. Then, she blew out a puff of Dust smoke in Ruby's eyes. 

Ruby screamed in pain, and Romana knocked Ruby off her legs. Romana slashed down at Ruby, piercing her blade through the Gem's shoulder. Crying out, Ruby slammed her hand into Romana's arm. Pain flared up, and Romana screamed, letting go and stumbling back. She ripped off her right sleeve and glove, looking at the skin. What little was left was cracked and dry, so she ripped it off. What remained was not red, crimson muscular tissue. It was black, with piercing red veins visible, and white claws instead of fingernails. 

She breathed deeply, feeling the pain die down. Which was when Ruby slammed into her, knocking her down. Romana had no idea where her cigar or cane had gone, but the wind was knocked from her lungs. She panted, seeing the scythe stop inches from her face. 

"Your...your arm is Grimm," Ruby whispered. 

"You even had an opportunity straight out and still flubbed it," Romana gasped, shocked. "How do you kill me tonight?" She activated her Semblance, collapsing the floor underneath her. As expected, Ruby jumped back, but Romana reversed the flooring, repairing it while knocking down the roof behind Ruby. Ruby was thrown back into Romana, who grabbed her with her Grimm arm and hurled her to the nearest window. 

"Better to burn the world with, m'dear," Romana chuckled nastily, flexing the skinless fingers. She picked up her sword, eyeing Ruby cautiously. 

"You don't have to do this," Ruby said. "Why are you--"

Romana didn't even hear the rest of what Ruby said, as memories flooded back to her. She blinked, thinking back to her past, to the one who defeated her, and touched the scarring on her stomach. 

"You sound like your mother did, on that night."

Ruby, who had been still speaking, cut short. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly. 

"The night I killed her, of course," Romana snorted. "I am credited with the kill, but I do confess, it was not a one-person effort. Several of us put work into it, and I never could have done it solo. She just went on and on, about morals and virtues...and as I stood there, my claws buried in her chest, piercing her heart, I told her the truth. Some of us just want to watch the world burn. Is there really that much wrong with that?"

"You..." The truth had the desired effect on the girl. She stopped long enough for Romana to catch her, throw her scythe away, and pin her down, the Grimm hand's claws ripping into the weird flesh. 

"How do you do it?" Romana whispered. "There is no reason you kill me tonight! _How! Do! You! Do!"_

A screech interrupted her. She looked up to see what caused the buildings collapse--a Nevermore, flying straight for them, mouth wide open. Her eyes widened, and then her heart skipped a beat when Ruby's feet landed on her stomach and Ruby's hands slammed into her Grimm wrist. The pain immediately forced her to let go, and with her legs, Ruby flipped Romana out the window, into the sky, down the mouth of a Nevermore. The Nevermore crashed through the building, flying a short distance before crashing, almost dead, to Earth. 

_Of course. Hubris makes fools of us all, doesn't she?_

Even as stomach acid began eating away what little was left of the old, crooked woman, she laughed, and laughed, and laughed until she didn't have the necessary organs to laugh. And in her mind, she continued laughing until death. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those curious about Romana's Semblance:  
> She can change what point in its timeline an object is at. Make someone like Yang older by pushing her later into her timeline, making herself and Adam teenagers again by pushing them younger. And with the two ships, she even just stopped their progression entirely. This would make it virtually impossible for any human person to fight her, as she can just make them super young and unable to fight her.


	25. Chapter 25

Beowulves filled the street, letting out a ferocious roar. Grimm ran rampant, with little caring for the Huntsmen, instead heading straight for the civilians. 

Even the Gems were having trouble with the sheer numbers. Garnet dropped another Beowulf before throwing an Ursa to the side. "They just don't stop!" she shouted. 

"We just need to keep the civilians safe until the General finishes evacuating them," Jaune cried. "Come on! We've got--" He cut off short as a noise shook from behind him. A Deathstalker scuttled across the road, hissing at him, but looking to the civilians behind him. Jaune set his shield firmly on the ground, calling, "Backup!"

A streak of yellow appeared behind the Deathstalker, and a yellow ball rolled through it, splitting it directly in half. Jasper slammed against Jaune's shield, her foot banging into it and knocking him back as she crouched, one hand on the road. The Deathstalker split in half, evaporating. Jasper grinned, standing up and cracking her knuckles. "Good. Something I can beat up." 

"We can use the extra hand," Amethyst cried, slashing open a pack of wolves. "They really want these guys!"

"They're scared," Ren said, clenching his fists. "As long as they're scared, the Grimm will keep on coming."

"Good thing we've got an answer for that," Garnet said, turning towards Jasper with a grin. A wave of water spilled and split, going around Jasper, weaving around everyone, impaling every Grimm with a hundred yards. Lapis flew through the air over them, stretching out her hands and smiling. "Need a lift?" she asked. Which was when the earth shook. 

"How's the footage coming along?" Cinder asked, standing slightly behind Mercury. 

"Excellently," Mercury grinned. 

"This is a massacre," Emerald whispered, partly disgusted, partly in awe. 

"It's a tragedy," Cinder whispered, smiling. "They'll be mourning the fall of Beacon for a hundred years now. And make sure you get what comes next."

Mercury focused the camera on her as she stepped in front of him. She gestured towards the mountain, which hung in the distance, a nice, comforting sight to the people of Vale. 

It shook. It cracked. And from it burst a massive Wyvern, spreading wings bigger than houses. It opened its maw, which could have easily fit a full truck in it, and screeched. A screech that shook the air and even shattered a couple of windows near the three of them. 

Cinder smiled, then strode off on her own task. 

"What is that?" Garnet burst out with. 

"I'm impressed it woke up," Carnelian whispered, stepping up beside the Gems. "I don't even know what it is, but I found it in that mountain on my last visit. That thing is ancient--more ancient than almost any other native of this planet. It will not go down easy."

Unable to contain her frustration, Lapis growled, "Watch me." She rocketed into the air, water streaming up to meet the Wyvern. Jaune's jaw dropped as he saw blots of black skin fall off the Wyvern, hitting the ground. Each one, however, grew a full Grimm. Ursa, Beowulves, creeps. He was shaken out of his shock by Ozpin's voice. 

"I'm sorry. It's last resort time, Pyrrha."

Jaune spun around, seeing Ozpin standing quietly with Pyrrha, who looked down at the ground, shaking, clenching her fists. Then, she nodded, looking up at him. Ozpin lead her away, at a fast pace. Jaune rushed after them, not entirely sure what was going on. 

Roman sat in the bridge of his ship, thinking over what his twin had told him. He gritted his teeth, then called her, one last time. 

No response. And the building had collapsed when a Nevermore hit it...

He smashed the scroll, shattering the screen with his hand. He sighed, standing up. "Glad you got your last wish," he said. "There'll be plenty to burn in Hell. Can't wait to see you there." He dropped a bomb on the control panel, striding off the bridge with Neo following him. He put a cigarette in his mouth, stepping in a small jet and seating himself in the pilot's seat. Neo sat next to him. 

He shakily lit the cigar, freely crying. "Goodbye, sister." Not bothering to wipe the tears away, he piloted the jet off the large ship as it exploded behind him. 

Lapis dodged the burning ship that flew past her, slashing with waves of water at the Wyvern. Nothing happened. She flew along its side, attacking closer and closer to its face, shocked to find that nothing she did made a difference. She got on level with its face, and her eyes widened as three eyes on one side of the Grimm's head looked at her. It screeched, moving to bite her, and she barely made it out, slashing more at its nostrils. 

At the very least, she'd managed to irritate it. Enough so that its next attack hit, sending her flying through a building and landing on the roof of another, across the city. She sat up slowly, rubbing her head. 

"Lapis!" Garnet cried, landing next to her. "Do you need anything?"

"I can't kill it," Lapis said. "I mean, maybe if we'd brought all four Diamonds, but this thing is too tough! I can't--" She stopped, setting her teeth into a determined grimace, resolve growing. "Where's Jasper?"

"Here," the warrior Gem said. "Garnet said I ought to come."

Lapis narrowed her eyes at the precog, then said to Jasper, "Fuse with me."

Jasper's eyes widened. "What? But--come on, you don't want that!"

"Well, it's not exactly as if we have Obsidian on speed dial," Lapis pointed out. "Malachite is the strongest we can get to at the moment, and we need to save this city!" She stood up, stretching out a hand to Jasper. "So. May I have this dance?"

Jasper hesitated. Then, the Wyvern screamed again, and following was the horrible sound of human screams. Jasper straightened, then, reached out and took Lapis's hand. 

A scream to match the Wyvern's split the air, but underground, the two were unintelligible from each other. "What is this place?" Jaune asked. Looking at him, Pyrrha winced as the elevator doors opened. "It's a long story."

"That we don't have time for right now," Ozpin stated, moving out. "Don't interrupt." He ran to the end of the hallway, to a green, box room, and opened the door. Out stepped a scarred woman in green, who looked to Pyrrha, listened to something Ozpin said, then nodded solemnly. 

"What is going on?" Jaune demanded, looking Pyrrha dead in the eyes. 

"It will take too long to explain," she said, taking his hands in her own. "Just Jaune. If anything happens...remember I agreed to this. This...this is my destiny. I'm not going to fight it." She smiled weakly. "I'm gonna be a hero."

"Pyrrha. It's time."

Blake looked back across the city, seeing the massive Fusion collapse into the ground. A brilliant greenish light lit up the sky, and the Fusion broke apart. The victorious Wyvern belted out a victory scream, taking off into the air again, looking only mildly damaged. 

"What's it gonna take to kill that thing?" Blake muttered, reloading Gambol Shroud as she rounded a corner. The building--a bar of some sort--was on fire, missing the entire wall connected to the front door. She couldn't figure out which street she was on. She couldn't call anyone else, either--they were busy fighting, apparently. Luckily, the Atlesian robots--which had, unsurprisingly, turned on the civilians--had collapsed. Something had shut them off, and given that it had been in sync with Ironwood's ship exploding and crashing, Blake had a few guesses. 

She almost didn't see the figure in black against the night. When she noticed who it was, her gun was on him in an instant. 

"Really?" Adam said, stepping forward, sword out. "After everything we've been through together? Is this how you want it to end?"

"You are a horrible person," Blake whispered. "Why would I want to still be with you?"

"Yes, I'm sure _Ruby_ is going to be so much better," Adam hissed. "And your other friends are so much better than old me, aren't they?"

"You know exactly why I left," Blake told him. 

"Yes," Adam admitted. "I know why--but I also know you promised to stay by my si--"

He was interrupted by the crack of wood. An injured civilian had tried sneaking past, but the pillar they'd put their weight on broke. A look of irritation passed over Adam's face, and he pointed his gun at the civilian. 

"No!" Blake shouted. She jumped in front of the gunshot, parrying the bullet and slashing at Adam. As their blades locked, she shouted, "I am NOT going to let you hurt innocents!"

Adam leaned his weight against Blake, only using one had to keep back her two. "And how do you plan on stopping me?" he leered. He kicked Blake's feet from under her, slashing at her head. Blake flipped away, leaving a shadow to take the blow, but Adam shot her out of the air and she hit the ground with a cry, clutching her arm. Blood. Her Aura must have been way lower than she'd thought. She fired at Adam, who blocked with his sword. The sword glowed red with his hair, and he said, "You know, when Romana said that for this mission, she'd make younger, so I wouldn't have the scar, at first I was thrilled. Then, I realized. The scar didn't change anything. It isn't the scar that hurts. It's you." He crouched next to her, taking off the mask he'd always worn, throwing it to the side. "You never left physical wounds, that could heal. That could even be forgotten. You just left me. And for that--you're going to pay." He stabbed hard, ramming his sword through her stomach, above her right hip. She cried out, slashing at him. He simply smacked her hand aside. "I'm not going to kill you--no, eye for eye, Blake. You took away everything important to me, so I'll take everything important to you."

"Blake?" cried a voice. Blake's eyes widened, as Adam cocked his head sideways. "I suppose I'll start with Yang," he said maliciously. He stood up, turning as Yang rounded the same corner Blake had moments earlier. Yang's eyes widened, flaring red. "How dare you!" she cried, charging forward, lunging through the air with a scream of rage. Adam channeled his Semblance through his blade--all the force from an entire night's worth of fighting, brought down on someone who'd been fighting Grimm a while and was bound to be low on Aura. 

A bright crimson splatter shot through the air, and Yang hit the ground, her arm severed. Yang didn't even scream, she just stopped. She stumbled, rising, almost like she didn't quite understand what happened, eyes wide. Adam pulled out his sword, then rushed towards Yang. 

Blake leapt in front of the sword, trying to pull Yang aside. Adam hesitated a brief second, then stopped entirely as the two _glowed_ yellow and black. "What?" he gasped, jaw dropping. "That's not possible. You're a human and a Faunus! _How?_ "

Smoke burst past him, and he caught a brief glimpse of something with four eyes, three arms, and claws before a fist collided with his side. Adam was sent flying, smashing through a wall and slamming into the side of a car, which crumpled. "How?" he whispered again, not yet trying to rise. He looked up to see Blake fleeing the smoke cloud, carrying Yang.

No. He shouldn't chase--not until he figured out whatever the hell just happened. Romana would want to know. He rose, his muscles feeling sore. He hadn't taken a hit like that in a while. He spun his sword out, slashing open the face of a Creep that lunged for him. 

Something new had happened. And for now, only three people knew about it. 

"Blake...don't leave."

Blake winced, hearing Yang's voice. She'd thought Yang had passed out--Blake herself was having trouble moving. Her side had stopped bleeding after--after--what had happened? She'd rushed to protect Yang--then--she'd punched Adam? Why had she done that? What had happened? She shook her head, blinking

"Blake. Please. We need you. Ruby needs you."

"You don't. Adam's going to target anyone close to me, so I need to get as far away from you as possible," Blake said. How did Yang know that she'd planned on leaving? She frowned, the world blurring a little. "I need to leave, Yang."

"But you don't have to run," Yang whispered. 

"Tell Ruby I'm sorry." Blake dropped Yang in front of the docks, where several ships were being boarded by civilians seeking passage out of the burning city. Several doctors came rushing over, crying out. Blake looked around, making sure everyone she cared about was here. Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha were MIA, but Ruby could protect herself, and Pyrrha could protect herself and Jaune. 

Yang was wrong. Blake wasn't needed, so she turned and left, clutching her side where Adam had stabbed her. 

"Get in the pods."

Amber closed the pod after her, as did Pyrrha. Ozpin started typing fast on the computer. "Jaune, stand watch," he said. As hard as it was, Jaune forced his eyes away from the machine that his friend had stepped into, holding up his shield. 

"Are you ready?" Ozpin asked. 

"Yeah," Amber said. 

Pyrrha nodded stiffly. Ozpin's face fell. "I...I need to hear you say it."

"Yes."

Ozpin sighed. "Thank you." He pushed a button, activating the machine. Jaune looked at it to see an orange light flowing through the cords between Amber and Pyrrha. And both started screaming. 

"What are you--" An arrow shot past his head, smashing through the glass pod and piercing Amber's heart. The scream was cut short, and the orange light dimmed and faded. A look of intense pain shone on Amber's face, then she simply lay still. An orange light rose from the corpse, shooting across the room to Cinder, who threw her glass bow aside and gasped, reeling as power flooded into her. 

"No!" Pyrrha cried, banging her fists on the pod's glass casing. She broke it off with her Semblance, then pulled her weapons to her. Ozpin, however, stopped her from charging. "Get Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood," Ozpin commanded. 

"But--"

" _No._ You will only get in the way right now." Ozpin lifted his cane. "Go get help."

Pyrrha nodded, running past Cinder with Jaune. Cinder shook her head. "The audacity, Ozpin. Right beneath everyone's noses. She was right about you. Your arrogance is going to be your downfall."

Ozpin held his cane like a sword, one-handed, then swung it around. Then the fight started. 


	26. Chapter 26

Jaune and Pyrrha quickly stumbled out of Beacon's front door, panting. "I...I think I have Glynda's number," Jaune said. "Uh--I don't know how to contact Qrow or Ironwood, but--I don't know! What was all that?"

They were interrupted by an odd, recognizable sound. Both turned to look back into Beacon, hearing the sound...of a fireplace? No, fire in an enclosed space. The elevator shaft. 

A sick feeling ran through both of them, and somehow, they both knew what had happened. "He lost," Jaune whispered. 

"Get Glynda," Pyrrha said, taking the steps back into Beacon. 

"What? Pyrrha, you're no match for her! She took Ozpin!" Jaune seized her shoulder. "Pyrrha..."

"Jaune...I know what I have to do." Pyrrha turned to him. 

"No! You don't have to--"

She kissed him, suddenly. A feeling almost like electricity ran through him, shock and surprise. Then he felt himself thrown backwards--into one of the school lockers, which slammed shut. "Pyrrha! No! You don't have to do this!" he cried. "Pyrrha!" She punched a few numbers on the front, and the locker launched itself across the city. 

"Oh my gods," Ruby whispered, arriving at the docks at the same time Weiss did. "Yang!" Yang had passed out, but was breathing fine. Ruby fell to her knees beside her sister, then looked around. "Where's Blake? Pyrrha and Jaune and--and--"

"I saw Blake here earlier," Coco said, wincing as a doctor helped splint what appeared to be a broken leg. Beside her, another doctor helped remove what appeared to be a Deathstalker stinger from Yatsuhashi's shoulder, and he gasped in pain. "When did she leave?"

"She must have gone back out to continue looking for civilians," Ren said. "Like we should--" He started to rise, but collapsed. "No!" Nora commanded, putting hands on his shoulders. "We have to go. We've done all we can--we have to face it. Beacon's already fallen."

"What about Malachite?" Ruby asked. "Whatever happened with--"

Garnet stretched out a hand, in which she held three Gems--Lapis, Jasper, and Pearl, the last of whom was cracked slightly. 

"My weapon broke," Amethyst said with a shrug. "Even with it, I couldn't do anything to that Wyvern! We just don't have the firepower to take it on."

"We've done everything we can," Peridot said, shaking her head. "Honestly, I'm surprised we saved as many as we did. We...it could have gone worse." 

Garnet straightened her glasses, wiping a tear that creeped out from underneath them. "Much worse."

Ruby's scroll rang, but she didn't recognize the caller. She almost didn't answer, but she decided it was wise to. "Hello?"

"Ruby!" Jaune's voice cried. "You have to save Pyrrha!"

"What? What's going on?" 

"Pyrrha! She's fighting Cinder at the top of Beacon Tower! Cinder already killed Ozpin. Save her!"

"We're on our way! Where are you?"

There was a cry of rage, then the connection cut out. Ruby shuddered, then pocketed her scroll. Wait, no. She was still using Jaune's. Dammit! Jaune must have went looting for a phone of someone's corpse or from a phone booth--though Ruby doubted many of those still stood. How much valuable time had been wasted simply because she'd taken Jaune's scroll instead of Pyrrha's, or Ren's, or anyone else's?

"Weiss, with me. Garnet, Amethyst, can you either of you fight still?"

"I can't," Garnet said, shaking her head. "I'm out."

"I've still got a little more," Amethyst nodded. 

"With me. We're getting Jaune and Pyrrha, and then I'm killing Cinder." Ruby glared hatefully towards the top of Beacon Tower. "Come on! Let's go!"

Cinder strode through Ozpin's office, admiring his tastes. She looked up, seeing through the glass roof all the clockwork gears of the bell. She whistled in admiration. But she stepped up to the window, as the Wyvern flew by and landed against the tower. Its head was parallel with the window, and all three eyes that could see her were focused on her. 

The Grimm screeched, and she said, "Shh. This is your home now."

It screeched again, quieter. Cinder took a nervous, cautious step back, then held up one hand, creating a jet of fire. She snuffed it out, hearing the screech of metal and sparks. The elevator was moving? She smiled, easily sidestepping the thrown xiphos as the elevator doors opened. Pyrrha flipped through the air, slamming her shield against Cinder's hands. Her Aura blocked the blow, and Pyrrha flipped back, landing on her feet and pulling her weapons back to her. They stared at each other for a long, tense moment, and then Cinder smiled, starting the fight in earnest. She threw jets of fire at Pyrrha, who ran a quarter circle round Cinder, dodging the fire. Cinder threw an extended blast, which Pyrrha blocked with her shield. She propelled herself threw the blast of flame, jumping over Cinder and stabbing down at her. 

Cinder caught the spear. 

Before Pyrrha's surprise could even be registered, let alone overcome, Cinder twisted the Huntress and struck her in the stomach, sending her flying back into a wall, her weapons flying to the side. Pyrrha landed on her feet as Cinder flew towards her. Pyrrha jumped, putting her feet against the wall and grabbing Cinder around the shoulder. She vaulted over Cinder, throwing her. Cinder landed square on her face but somersaulted back onto her feet as Pyrrha rushed her, the two engaging in a deadly trade of blows. 

"I don't have to do anything here," Carnelian said. "This isn't my planet. Not my world. Not my obligations!"

The room was silent around her. Her shoulders sagged. She should be spending her time fixing Viridian! She eyed the green diamond sitting in front of her. "But she is so very much like you, Vir," Carnelian sighed. "So hopeful. So kind. So willing to do the right thing. So...so..." She couldn't figure out what to say. "But no. I can't get involved in this. I'm still...still trying to figure everything out. Still trying to fix everything! To fix you! I don't have time to try slaying that thing. I offered and gave help where I could. That's my part."

She looked down at the green Gem, seeing her reflection inside of it. She gulped, realizing. "Dammit. Too softhearted for my own good. It's gonna be the death of me, let me tell you." She almost heard, or thought she did, a faint, distant laugh coming from the Gem. She shook her head, trying to figure out if she imagined it. Finally, she sighed, bubbling Viridian and storing her inside her Gem--which most other Gems couldn't even do, and Carnelian couldn't do for very long.

"Time to be a hero, I guess."

Ruby fired, slaying a Beowulf and looking up in time to see the Wyvern smash the top off Beacon Tower. Wreckage of the clock landed near her, and she ducked aside as a gear hit the ground next to her. "We need to get up there!" 

"How? I can't imagine the elevator working!" Amethyst cried out. Weiss lunged ahead of them, killing the Beowulf in her way before creating a series of white glyphs up the side of Beacon. 

"Save her, Ruby," Weiss ordered. Ruby nodded, rushing past Weiss and leaping through the air. She landed sideways, her feet somehow sticking to Weiss's glyphs, and she rushed up the side of the tower, only one thought going through her mind. 

_I have to save her._

All thoughts of vengeance, of killing Cinder, all of the other atrocities of the night were gone. All that was left was the need for action. She had to save Pyrrha. She'd lost what--four, five, six, more friends tonight? And what about the friends she hadn't seen who'd died? 

_Oh, Gods, oh Gods--please. Let me save on person. Please._

Ruby had never really prayed before. Her father had never gone to church, and Yang declared herself atheistic. Ruby had never prayed before. But if there was ever a time to start...

She jumped, landing on the roof in a crouch, and rising to her feet. She was immediately momentarily blinded by a flash of red light. She covered her eyes, squinting. Once it faded, she saw Cinder, standing with hand outstretched. Pyrrha's circlet hit the ground in front of her with a gentle clinking noise. 

Ruby stopped. She shook, she cried, she _seethed_ _._ But only one final thought ended up in her head. 

_Pyrrha._

She'd failed. And she screamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I didn't want to copy-and-paste the entire Cinder/Pyrrha fight scene, which is something I feel like you can respect. The final chapter will come out later tonight or tomorrow--and the 'tonight' thing is Hawaii time, so I have no idea what time that'll be for you, but I generally write while I eat dinner and everyone else watches the family show.


	27. Epilogue

A red light filled the room. The red diamond lifted off the bed, floating into the air and around it formed Ruby. She fell back onto her bed, rubbing her head. 

"You're awake!" her father cried. She looked up, surprised to see her home bedroom in Patch. "What happened?" she asked. "How did I get here?"

"Carnelian brought you down from the tower," Taiyang said. 

"From the tower? Pyrrha!" She looked up at Tai, tears in her eyes, and was confused and distressed when he smiled. "Don't worry! She's fine!"

"How? I saw her got disintegrated!"

"You saw a red light and then her disappear?" Taiyang asked. "That's because Carnelian hit her with the Gem machine last second. She couldn't pull Pyrrha out of the way, she said it was the only thing she could think of. Pyrrha is fine though. At least one miracle came out of that night. And it's kind of good that you mis-saw that, otherwise I don't think we could have gotten rid of the Wyvern."

"Why not?"

Tai looked confused. "Because of what you did to it."

"What--what do you mean? What did I do that Malachite couldn't?" Ruby said, confused. "Wait, where is everyone? How long was I out? Again, _what_ did I do?"

"I can take over here, Tai," Qrow said. He was leaning against the wall at the edge of the room. 

"Qrow, what are you--"

"Tai, please," Qrow begged. Tai sighed, relenting, getting up and leaving. Ruby thought he flashed a glare at Qrow as he left, but she swore she'd mistaken it. 

Qrow sat down. "Do you remember anything after you climbed up the tower?"

"I--I--" Ruby shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "How does this work with me being a Gem? I don't really have eyes in that way..."

"Carnelian mentioned a few random things in passing that none of us were able to make sense of," Qrow snorted. "What she did say that we understood is, 'I thought being turned into a Gem would remove the powers, not enhance them'. Unfortunately, even enhanced, you didn't kill the Wyvern. It's turned to stone. Scratched up, chipped, and damaged, but still there. And it's attracting more Grimm. Glynda's trying to repair the place, but...I don't think she's gonna be able to do much."

"What...how long was I poofed?" Ruby asked. 

"Four days."

"What happened?"

"Weiss was taken back to Atlas by her father, who let her say goodbye to Yang only, I heard, cause Ironwood said something under his breath that I feel like was a threat. Yang lost her arm...she's knocked down right now, but you know her. She'll get out of bed sooner or later." Qrow paused to drink some alcohol, then continued. "Blake ran. No one knows where she went, or even when, except, perhaps, Yang, who only ever said, 'she thought it was the right thing to do'. Whatever that means. All the other students either moved to a different academy or went home to their families. Except JNPR. They're actually staying here with Pyrrha--apparently, Ren and Nora don't have a home to go back to, and Jaune and Pyrrha have been...talking." Qrow shrugged. "Guess the girl finally admitted to her crush."

"The Gems?"

"Garnet and Amethyst took their incapacitated friends to their home to let them recover--and so they can fix Pearl before her crack gets worse. Carnelian offered to fix it, but her lab broke, apparently. We don't know what happened there. As for Spinel--according to Garnet, Spinel declared she was staying for a little while, but none of us can find the damn clown. Ozpin's dead, Beacon's fallen, and CCT is down. No one is making any long range calls, and TV is barely working. All things considered--hell came up to greet us. Worst thing is, every damn one of those crooked villains got away. We have no confirmation of any of their deaths."

Ruby nodded. "Thanks. Where is Yang?"

"In her room. She might need some alone time, kid."

Ruby jumped out of bed, exiting the room quickly. She paused to see how she looked in a mirror. She'd redesigned her outfit to better remember her friends--well, Pyrrha was still alive, actually. Still, she wasn't changing the outfit just because Pyrrha hadn't died. She walked through her home, the halls that were so familiar and yet, hadn't been seen in what was it now? A year? Two? She looked up, hearing familiar voices. She walked through the hallway, peeking into the living room. Team JNPR was assembled on the couch, Ren and Nora on the left, Jaune and Pyrrha on the right. They were talking quietly. 

Ruby hesitated, then rushed into the room, throwing her arms around Pyrrha. 

There was a moment of confusion, during which several people shouted things that no one heard over everyone else shouting. Then, Nora jumped on top of Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ruby, hugging them all. 

"You're awake!" Pyrrha cried, shoving Nora off.

Ruby got up, crying. "I thought you'd--I saw you--I--"

"I'm okay! I'm still here!" Pyrrha grabbed Ruby by the shoulders. "See?"

Ruby looked her up and down. Her skin was a light orange, and her Gem was located in her bare midriff. Ruby noted that her armor was changed slightly. She wore an extra bit of armor on her right shoulder, and on her left, she'd moved and extended the band, so that it became a vambrace. Ruby also swore that she had more armor over her chest area--at the very least, her outfit now completely covered her chest and collarbone. She had skipped a skirt entirely, wearing brown pants and thigh-high boots. "You've...changed your costume a bit."

"So did you," Pyrrha said smiling. "Good to see you up--er, at all. Non-poofed."

"Oh, Gods! You're a Gem now!" Ruby jumped up. "Yeah. That's gonna take some getting used to."

"You're one to talk. Didn't you get used to it on the ride to Earth?" Carnelian snorted. 

"Wha--Carnelian! What are you doing in my house!"

Sitting on the other side of the room, typing at a computer, with Viridian sitting on the table besides it, hooked up to the same machine that had haunted Ruby's nightmares. "Yes, the four of them are perfectly allowed but I am not," she sighed. "In case your father and uncle forgot to mention it, my lab was smashed by one of the crashing Atlas ships. So after I spent two days making sure Pyrrha was actually fine, I realized that most of my labs have actually fallen apart over the years. I only have two left on this planet. The other one is a awhile's travel from here--it has my ship, too, for when I go offworld. But until then..." She shrugged. "I don't have anywhere else to be."

"Right." Ruby scratched her head. "I'll be with you guys later. There's someone else I need to see too real quick."

Yang sat in her bed, looking out the window. Ruby came over and sat down next to her. "How you holding up?" she asked. 

"How do you think?" Yang muttered. "Weiss was taken. Blake had places to go. Penny's dead, the school's fallen. We're not going to see most of our friends ever again."

"Yang..."

Yang spun on her sister, eyes flashing red for the briefest of seconds. "You know, it must be great to be _naturally_ left handed. I didn't exactly get much of a choice. And if you're just gonna sit there, trying to get me up and do stuff, just go now!"

"I won't. Because I'm going later, so I'm going to be with you now." Ruby smiled sadly, putting a hand on Yang's right shoulder. Yang hissed, her hand clenching into a fist. "You need some time to recover. I still have nightmares every time I sleep. But I'm here with you, whatever you need. Because despite what Uncle Qrow says, the last thing you need right now is to be alone." 

Yang gave Ruby an awkward half-hug, which Ruby returned, smiling. Yang cried lightly, silently, into Ruby's shoulder. 

**Six months later...**

"You guys don't have to come with," Ruby told the assembled members of team JNPR. 

"You couldn't keep us from coming with," Jaune said, folding arms over his chest. 

"Well, dead wrong, but I get the sentiment," Ruby nodded. 

"I'd come with if I could, but..." Even just thinking about fighting brought shaking in her arms. Pyrrha shuddered. "I...I can't. Not after that."

"Recover," Ruby ordered. 

"One question does remain to me," Ren asked. 

"Where are we going?" Nora finished. 

"Cinder mentioned Mistral, and I think I remember Ozpin mentioning the Headmaster one time. It was about Emerald and Mercury and him explaining how they got into Haven. So I was going to Haven to see what I can shake out of this Leo Lionheart, even if I have to tie him upside down to do so."

"Then let's get walking. It's going to be awhile," Jaune said. Before leaving, he stepped over and kissed Pyrrha. "Please. Don't ever try to sacrifice yourself again. Let's stay alive for each other."

Pyrrha nodded. She stood in the doorway, watching the four of them trek down the road, through the snowy Patch countryside. They planned on getting a boat ride to Sanus, as close, shore-side, as possible to Mistral before walking the rest of the way. It would take them months. Pyrrha looked to the side, seeing Qrow standing on a short hill, watching them leave. Then, he jumped off, and Pyrrha saw a small Qrow flying away. 

_Of course._

The rain was intense in the Mistral bar, and Militia and Melanie handed another intense alcoholic beverage to the man. He took it, but didn't drink it. Roman looked up at the ceiling. Sighing, he slid it back to the twins. Neo sat on the counter, crossing her legs, looking down at Roman. 

Roman stood up, putting on his hat and a black coat. He wore a blue undercoat today. 

"How much do I owe your mom?" he asked, fishing in his wallet. 

"Three hundred," Melanie said. 

Roman sighed. "I'll find some dumbass to rob, then, Neo, we're hitting the road."

"Where we going?" 

Roman turned to her, anger shining in his emerald eyes. "I'm hunting the motherfucking bastard that took my sister from me, and I'm going to spend every last ounce of my energy killing her, or at least, hurting her as much as she hurt me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Please, drop feedback and, if you haven't already ):< read the other books in the series, and subscribe to it so you know when I start the next one in the series!
> 
> PS--I saw an image on Pinterest that pointed out that Ruby's V4 outfit has a lot of similarity to Pyrrha's and Penny's outfit, so it appears she designed it with them in mind. With Pyrrha's redesigned outfit(that I may draw sometime and potentially post to my Discord channel), she designed it with Amber in her mind.


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